After 45 + years as a real estate investor, broker, lender, fund manager and syndicator, I’ve become aware that the “dream” of many investors and investor “hopefuls” is to be able to generate enough cash flow to live off their real estate holdings and accumulate enough wealth to make “work” optional.

So if you make you buy box too tight, you will find very few deals that will fit your buy criteria. 

It's real estate in markets with population growth, it's pretty hard to lose money if you get an inspection and appraisal."....Wishful thinking at best when buying C/D properties.

The predicament we are in is the property is not in the condition to charge that much for rent and we would also leave a lot of money in the deal once we refinance if we cannot get in there to fix it up.

Unless you are talking serious money, which I would say is 2k or more in excess taxes, it may not be worth your effort.

Make sure the document is titled "DRAFT".

The deal did not go through and they never returned my money.

Mistakes I see people make is they plan on living there a short time and over renovate the property where they will never get the money they put into it back. 

Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.

Its a safe place to park money.