I would keep the work very cosmetic, and I would enjoy the additional space and/or revenue from the unit without considering digging up, etc. 

I wanted to help them out and minimize their loss and saw an opportunity to get a property slightly below market because of my commission savings, immediate mortgage and maintenance relief, in addition to keeping a lower short term interest rate How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Your old carpet did not become more valuable over the seven years you owned the property, even if you are selling for a gain.

Instead of losing 55k they will probably only end up losing $25,000 - $30,000Long term its not a great cash flow property but with some renovations and addition of a parking slab I think long term appreciation is the big goal here.

Maintenance/cap ex, insurance, if a rental PM, bookkeeping, misc.The fact you have a loan means 1) leverage 2) equity pay down.In addition, there are tax benefits.So I will do some rough underwriting as an OO non-rental at 95% LTV (because FHA has some undesired consequences that make the 1.5% difference in LTV worth avoiding the FHA).equity paydown: 20% (using OP interest rate at 95% LTV and not counting closing costs). 

Big expense up front, additional expenses over the life of the lock, they can be too complicated for renters to figure out, and they don't solve all the problems a landlord may face.

You can prevent this by requiring them to add you as "additional interest" on their policy.

Even if the rental has a decent cash flow with additional flood insurance, we're still not sure we want to take on that risk as we are out-of-state investors (planning to move back to KY in the future, but not now) and we don't like that it will potentially bring down the perceived value when we try to sell it in the future.The seller has never lived there and has not provided any information on if it has flooded before or not. 

I’ve seen many buyers successfully execute this strategy over the years, turning such properties into valuable investments.

Hello,Im working with a lender to refinance into a Fanny Freddy mortgage now that I have stabilized my 36 unit complex.They have asked for a CAPEX schedule, and a T-6, in addition to the rent roll.