I perhaps naively went ahead with the registration and inspection after completing purchase of the home, and wound up with a hefty repairs bill of around 3k.

I use $2500 to pay expenses and save what's left in a fund for repairs etc...So I can count on approx 5K/month in gross income. 

Deduct NEW property taxes after you buyDeduct home insurance costsDeduct maintenance percentage, typically 10%Deduct vacancy+tenant nonperformance percentage(we recommend 5% for Class A, 10% Class B, 20% Class C, good luck with Class D)Deduct whatever dollar/percentage of cashflow you wantNow, what you have left over is the amount for debt service.Enter it into a mortgage calculator, with current interest rate for an investment property, to determine your maximum mortgage amount.Divide the mortgage amount by either 75% or 80%, depending on the required down payment percentage - this is your tentative price to offer.If the property needs repairs, you'll want to deduct 110%-120% of the estimated repairs from this amount.Be sure to also research the ARV and make sure it's 10-20% higher than your tentative purchase price.As long as the ARV checks out, this is the purchase price to offer.It is probably significantly below the asking price.

Some numbers:Expected 2026 income after raising rents to market value and assuming 7% vacancy: $144k.Expenses: $14k property management, $18k property tax, $10k insurance, $10k utilities, $8k in repairs/maintenance/advertising/admin/etc: Total operating expenses: $60kNOI: $84kBased on 6% cap rate that brings the valuation to only $1.4m, or $1.5m based on 5.5% cap rate.

The key is ensuring the after-repair value (ARV) supports refinancing to pay off the initial funding without overextending.Fix-and-flip - This requires sharp numbers and market knowledge.

.- It's not profitable for them to search for under-market priced houses, figure out repairs needed or what other problem is pushing the price down and do even more for a newbie investor that has analysis-paralysis and may never buy anything.Some questions you'll want to share the answers to with any agent you choose:1) Are you paying cash or getting a mortgage?

I feel like marking up repairs is paying twice.

Since the price of a multi unit is double or sometimes 3x the price of a single family home, would it be smart to start off with a SFH and scale up from there or just make the leap into a duplex that I can force some appreciation with minor repairs.

There are still a ton of roofs with blue tarps needing repair/replacement and some debris sitting curbside.  

It couldn't hurt to call a couple attorneys right away to see what they say in terms of cost and suggestions for dealing with this quickly.In terms of mitigating any legal issues with your tenant be sure you are documenting every conversation you have had with the HOA in terms of asking them to make the necessary repairs.