Clear title is squeaky clean free of any and all encumbrances. 

With most REO's, the decision makers are most interested in seeing clean offers that have a high likelihood of closing.

@Landon RasmussenPaint it, switch out all the lights for daylight LED, clean it like a laboratory inside, mostly denude the landscaping outside no matter how lush and beautiful you think it is. 

It's a great SFH in an A area (Olathe, KS), inspection report came back very clean, everything looked great.

Unless you plan on doing all the work yourself, you should factor in termite inspection/prevention, possible tree removal/trimming, clearing gutters to prevent leaks, sending contractors to fix things that break, painting unit after each tenant, changing locks after each tenant, cleaning, appliance maintenance etc. 

How should you go about balancing between affordable and enough to cover repairs/cleaning?

Background check is clean. 

@Julie McCoy My cleaning lady refuses to do this job. 

I believe market can support ARV of 385k now if the interior is up to par with modern standards and exterior looks clean. 

@Cassi Justiz Thanks for the recommendation.I have to clean up the 400+ apps on my iPhone and make a page of apps just for REI!