In Parts of the SF Bay Area its mandatory prior to changing owner ship to see if you have clay pipes and if you do they must be replaced with a new waste line.

If you need financial help, ask under the "Finance, Tax, and Legal" forum.

Depends on the lender.If it has yet to go to foreclosure and you are trying to buy it prior or at sale - the answer is a hard no. 

If you need financial help, ask under the "Finance, Tax, and Legal" forum.

I think he is a great guy and isn't his first rodeo with investor funds.We can do some legal checks if you want that type of search, lawsuits, prior names, etc.

Real estate's "gross rent multiplier" is Wall Street's "sales to revenue",  "cap rate" is roughly "P/E ratio".When evaluating markets and investments I tend to start with GRM (or lazily the 1% rule), then attempt to return a cap rate based on assumptions about costs, then I work my way to multiple years of projections (assumptions about inflation, amortization, tax benefits, etc), and if I am partnering with one of my smart friends I have to pull up an IRR (internal rate of return).I also look at regional employment levels, median income to rent ratio in the zip code etc. 

I know all my investment mortgages prior to 08 were 6.5 to 7.5 % and that was fine.

The mortgage has gotten out of hand due to property tax increases, miscalculated escrow, and an increase in my interest rate from an initial buy down, increasing from $2600/mo to $3200/mo.

Ask yourself, why would the federal government pay MORE than market rent and waste our tax dollars?

Definitely make those assessments during inspection or prior to making an offer if you can to save yourself the time.