Once you factor that in, your small loss is actually a bigger loss once you need to do any repairs or upkeep. 

They are pretty involved in making sure the property is updated and functional which ends up reducing the amount of $ offered, or if the property needs maintenance repairs Flock might not offer on it at all.

MY LTR's are mid-tier for their market and have minimal cash flow at the moment so it all gets eaten up by  repairs and manager fee, my goal with these is mainly long-term appreciation and eventual cashflow as rents rise. 

She/he should be able to provide you with a chart of accounts to choose from, such as Repairs & Maintenance, Supplies and Amenities, etc.

Are these worth repairing?

YOU decided that it was in YOUR best interest to do a remodeling at this time rather than just repair the access areas.

Usually as long as their are no life threatening issues (no HVAC, windows won't open, no hot water), the housing authority will began to pay the rent and give you time to address the required repairs.

These are my options:a) Expensive contractor - wants $8,500 to demo and cap the two stacks plus some other brick repairs/repointing. 

After some research, I'm thinking it would be a good opportunity to proceed with the offer and to set aside the "free" money for use for repairs/renovations and holding costs to have some extra cushion.There seems to be much debate on the use of credit cards in real estate investing, but considering my circumstances .. 1.  

I make all necessary repairs as soon as possible, too.