This is what makes this very tough for a homeowner to buy something to live in. as they get lazer focused and it never goes to sale. they waste time and energy chasing it.And if its LA if there is any equity at all you will have massive competition..For due diligence simply order a preliminary title report for a few hundred and that will tell you the story.. some auction sites will publish the TSG  but not all.good luck

One significant mortgage rate increase some sort of a shock to the economy, then all bets are off.

It's really a personal thing which #s you look at first.I also use per unit (per door) as a very preliminary "is this worth looking at further" and cap rate too, though I've been seeing cap rates much lower in RI, at least for MLS properties.

I'm shocked that radon testing isn't a requirement when buying a home just as lead disclosure is a requirement.

Best advice i can give you is to get active on the website ask and answer questions that you know and the speed at which you will learn will be shocking. 

Not all lenders track guideline changes.Most lenders base their knowledge around water cooler chit-chat, which is disappointing but true.Classic Example: The Americans with Disabilities Act, and presumably the corresponding mortgage guideline changes, was like 25 freaking years ago, but I still had an older coworker shocked and assume fraud when I did a loan for a guy on temporary disability.

We reached out to a pm to help us do some preliminary work before we flew up for our walk-through, he was really great in getting us up to speed on the market & showing us improvements he had done on other properties to increase rents.  

We ask what your FICO score is and run a preliminary number based on that.

I'm pretty happy with my numbers, but like i said, the spread is significant so now i know I'll have to feel the seller or a bit more and be ready to shock them no matter what it sounds.

Shocked!