Here is the quick and dirty; I am late cashing out an investor due to the fact that my account is currently frozen due to some red flags on how I was moving money in and out (newer account, a few failed closings, so monies came in and out of escrow, so the activity looks weird) The bank is doing some kind of anti money laundering investigation, which I am not worried about at all.

One red flag, walk away.

My realtor is giving me plumber contact but I really want to have an unbiased inspection and quote of the extent of work.The in house plumber might be unknowingly bias towards helping this deal go through and might miss some red flags. 

Too many red flags to even bother spending any time considering.

The house was there on the market for close to 300 days.We got the inspection report and it showed that there is a plumbing issue (leak from the master bathroom, see attached pic), which looks like a red flag to me but my realtor (might be biased to closing this deal) has asssured that this is not a major issue and can be fixed.I have requested the seller to fix the leak plus bunch of other minor stuff in the request for repairs.

Does it really make that much of a difference to put red mulch out front?

What to look for, where to look and any way that I can check the condition of the slab prior to an official inspection.We will check into the condition of the soil (Clay, Sand etc.) and any noticeable wear and tear on the outside but prior to inspection, are there any red flags I could look for myself or any questions to ask?

Always use bad vibes to reject applicants.I would definatly reject the applicant if you want to make being a landlord as simple as possible.I never accept any applicant that shows signs of being pushy, demanding or high needs.If he asked if he could install blinds after he moved in that would be entirely different, making requests before signing a lease is a definite red flag.

It is always easier to do this in the year of purchase because there is a little more red tape involved by breaking out assets after the year of purchase.

If they balk at that, think red flag.