@Andrew Schaefer: I'm not aware of a specific list of things that the typical appraiser would look for on a conventional loan other than the house must be habitable. 

Caretaker would inform me of any repair/maintenance needs and I would call service contractors.5. rents would be mailed or deposited into my bank account.6. caretaker is vital to this process so compensation would be ?

Having equity is always awesome, but not as vital to me in looking at a 2-4 unit property.Can you force equity into the property?  

1) The very next closest market to meIt is vital that you know your market.

CO (If required in your town) and permits, that is basically the town's way of saying that the property isn't condemned and won't be as long as you make the property habitable and bring it up to code.

I don't think it's a great habit to regard bids / estimates this way. 

That means even if you cancel a week into a three month policy you won't get a refund.If you're living in a habitable house and doing fixup a homeowners policy may be adequate. 

But those steps are vital b/c they filter out 90% of the opportunities out there. 

Once we know at what point to contact them for an interview, what are some of the vital questions to ask? 

Look for something that is just habitable enough to live in but not something super dumpy that would be appealing to cash investors where they could get a steep discount.