I can't tell you how many times seller claimed his properties were tenanted and even presented a rent roll to us, but when we stood in front of the property, it was abandoned and boarded up.

I think in this instance I would have stood my ground at $2,000 and put it into escrow myself right away but as a refundable should the property not pass inspections.

The house had several floor joists and trusses in the attic that were cut through in order to run venting and pipes that needed to be shored up, some rotted subflooring that was discovered in the bathroom, some drywall needed to be replaced, the whole house was repainted, added a water softener due to the hard water from the well leading to discoloration of the tub, and upgraded the fixtures to make it look nicer.

What stood out?

Sometimes the disaster would be selling for more than the renovated house because you could see a small sliver of the ocean if you stood on the balcony and craned your neck in the right direction.  

We received a lot of good, basic information but, what stood out to us the most was the "Flip to Yourself." model.

I later find out that as he's giving me almost-daily updates of "I pulled the permits today" and "The trusses were ordered today from ____, they'll be here in 2 weeks."

Given where we are in the current market cycle, I think it's aggressive to concentrate return potential on appreciation - I think buying at a good basis matters significantly more.That being said, Macon, GA and Tacoma, WA both stood out to me and I think military-anchored communities are solid bets. 

@Curt Davis  too funny  good advice though... glad someone from that market stood up and said what needed to be said.

"YOUR LETTER STOOD OUT"I don't want to change my marketing until I know for sure I'm failing.