One of the advantages to investing in real estate long term is the paper deductions you get.

Once I learned that end I saved a lot of money from needing to pay a technician to replace exhaust fan motors of relays.You can learn how to do roofs by reading the wrapping paper on any bundle of shingles, or you might be able to find an article called "your roof, for heaven's sake" which was published about 25 years ago by a California property owners' association.

Other than making your investment look good on paper, I can't see how that serves the investor in reality.

. $100k under the county appraisal is not to low - just work with your numbers. you can put it on paper with 30 working days Due Diligence clause and option to increase it by another 21 days. 

The pilot holes for the lag bolts are typically 1/16-1/8 of an inch smaller than the diameter of the lag bolt making the mechanical base act as a sub flashing, and then there is also a chemical sealant (caulking, geo-cell, Henry's... depending on the installer) sandwiched between the roof decking/paper and the mechanical base.

If you need something on paper, an appraiser can complete a report 'subject to'.

If the property is owned by an LLC you can do a business search and at least figure out who filed the papers.

Get it down on paper.

Assuming we agree on the price do you think it possible to do all the paper work ourselves? 

I've had plenty of great people on paper and a totally different person who shows up.