The hot water pipes leading from the boiler were leaking in 20 places the inspector could see and as a bonus were wrapped in asbestos.2) There is only one thermostat for the building so the tenants on the top floors often open their windows during the winter because so much heat comes off the radiator, as a result the gas bills (landlord payed) can sometime be more than $3000/month in the winter.3) Some of the electrical panels had been updated but most had not and the wiring was all original fabric coated and would have to be replaced if worked on.4) The roofs needed replaced.I could probably use all of this to get the price much lower but it seemed like just too big a project to take on especially when the numbers were good but not great.Any experiences working with older properties like this?

In order to get the loan you have to make "green" improvements, like electrical efficiency lighting, app controlled thermostats, insulation, and all kinds of other energy  or earth saving features.  

There are two kitchens, upstairs and downstairs in the main building but both units are fed from a single electrical panel and there is one common furnace with a single thermostat in the upstairs unit.

I wouldn't even bother to insulate if electric heat, put on a wireless or landline thermostat and tell renters to turn on on their drive up and have a nice wood stove.

It was 37 at the thermostat in that zone and the bathroom much colder.

You can connect multiple devices to multiple thermostats.

It has a thermostat that you can tell it when to be on at what temp and set times to go to a lower temp.

I was thinking a wi-fi thermostat but I cannot find any good ones.

I know you have since moved forward with PM but thought I'd reference your question anyway.In my basement rec room I installed electric baseboard heaters with a wall thermostat.

We also include Internet and "television" (along with a flatscreen television in each lounge/living room) in our offering and just bake it all into the rent.This does not mean that we do not monitor and endeavour to control resource consumption - we are always making improvements to the building envelope; have installed LED lighting; use low-flow plumbing fixtures; have programmable thermostats and our own building monitoring system.Our objective is to provide our student tenants with a quiet, healthy accommodations complete with all the needed amenities at a cost which is less than a residence room at the university itself.In that light, @Al Williamson is steering you in the right direction - provide them with amenities not at your cost, but at a cost less than they could procure the service themselves.