The other way to mitigate some of the risk of buying in an area that you're farther away from is to buy a newer build. 

I suppose that if the numbers are right all of these can be mitigated. 

If it is wet what can I do to mitigate this issue?

I'd mitigate the worst case by not going over $150K on purchase price.Also, it looks like you have some money, so even in worse the worst case scenario, you could sell and sustain a loss without sinking.In the expected case you will invest about $200K and earn about $20K, a 10% ROI.  

And I say ASAP because an appropriate rental for me to move into just became available.Here are my assumptions: The condo will be fairly easy to rent The rental income will only cover 75% of my monthly expenses on the condo (mortgage, taxes, HOA fees) but I'm stuck paying those regardless.The rent payment for my new place, and the rent I collect, will be the same on a monthly basis (break-even)Repair/maintenance costs will be the same whether I live in the condo or rent it out (break-even)I will incur new costs for professional management and potential vacancyThe condo is in a good location and I won’t be underwater in five yearsMy front-end DTI is 28% and I have excellent credit with no other debtHere are my questions:From what I’ve read, there is some variation in what lenders require to use rental income to qualify for the next mortgage.  

In the state of Hawaii, I have a duty to mitigate my losses by re-listing the property once I have possession on Dec 13th.

There are always deals (if you can find them) and if you are buying right that should mitigate some of the risk you can experience in a downturn.What does your Realtor think?

It might be worth looking into mitigation techniques.

The house is always a terrible mess, windows are always closed and shades are always down and shut, never got a notice about mold, and I'm sure I mitigated any chance of mold.

@Robert Mcquillan unless you are living in the property in Colorado you can't do the mitigation yourself.Account Closed so generally speaking, I want to have the asbestos mitigated in property I own but not in every case has it happened.