I recently moved to Little Rock from Los Angeles.

Lessons learned:1)Fire a non performing PM early and often ... they NEVER get better.2)Don't buy out of state where you can't verify issues & solutions or easily take control to straighten out a mess if need be.3)Repeated visits for what seems like the same or similar issue are a red flag which should NOT be ignored.4)Use licensed, bonded electricians who pull permits.5)Trust but verify.6)Be careful about who even bids your jobs.

If they made 18% +/- on the buy, they could actually sell for less than they paid and still not be in the red. 

Our lender also informed us that the biggest issue that raised the red flag and qualified the property to be in Below Average Condition is the detached garage which needs major repair.Our dilemma:Our lender gave us the option to buy the property all cash and refinance instead of it being considered a purchase.

The list has structural, lack of utilities, hazardous conditions, vacant and open and uncorrected red tags. 

This was the rock bottom of the Tucson RE market.

Are they looking for rock bottom pricing?

Joe's brother-in-law buying Joe's house at a short sale would be a huge red flag for fraud.I think the biggest arrow in your quiver is #1, and your most probable path to success is to order a fresh appraisal with a fresh opinion of value, and once it comes back go to your (or the end-lender's) appraisal department (not the AMC, the lender's internal folks) and argue that the new appraisal is more credible than the previous one because of #1 ("if the appraiser didn't even go to the comps for a quick drive-by photo, who knows what else he didn't even actually do?")

Using that rate may be considered alright or it may be a little low and raise a red flag somewhere.

My 2 deals are flooded homes and there going for rock bottom prices!