You could also explore seller financing or a bridge loan to give you more flexibility.

lastly I think the sellers in these areas are far more sophisticated than inner city rust belt property owners about values..

It can easily take 6+ months to find a motivated seller. - Just be prepared, because a motivated seller typically has a property with issues you need to be sure you can solve.

When you’re confident in your numbers, you can negotiate with clarity and avoid being swayed by emotions.Understand the Other Party’s MotivationEvery seller has a reason for selling.

Or a seller finance calculator showing the monthly payment based on negotiated price, interest rate, down payment, etc.

-How are arrears handled, how do you ensure once arrears are caught up that seller doesn't walk on you. - Can you do subto with a lein on property.

Quote from @Samuel Hudson: Hello friends I am new the market and recently bought a home in Weehawken 6 months backs .Its a three family home and we are currently doing renovations Right now.The rent leveling board told me that two units would have to follow a rent of 1650 for unit 1 which has three bedrooms and another unknown amount for unit 2 which they don’t have the information for .The previous seller I purchased the property from bought it as a tax lien .He has kept the property vacant for two years with no tenants before selling it to me .However ,the previous Owner he bought it from must have had tenants .I am putting in a lot of money into renovations and want some clarity on the situation I am in .The property has been vacant for the two years and currently still is as we are doing renovation .It would be really appreciated if anyone can assist me on what information needs to be provided by from the previous seller for me to be able to set the rent based on the market value .Thank you . 

Large down payments or extreme discounts from sellers would be needed to reach cash flow neutral stages. 

Can get in the 60-70% range if you want to put more effort into it and go direct to seller. 

On one hand the seller obviously wanted as much money as they could get.