pic #2:  Back wall/stucco peeling off. 

What I mean by this is I substituted the real follow up action steps I should be taking and used education as a crutch.I was so afraid to "fail" that I thought I could mask my own inaction by using educational spending as a salve.I don't mean to degrade education but its a fine balance between educating to a point that you can take positive action towards a specific goal and "paralysis by analysis".This is what I propose:1.

I always ensure there is no chipping/peeling paint and paint the entire house prior to renting.

the fumes of cat urine were the worst I've ever experienced, I think we actually needed masks, literately the air was thick... we evicted them.   

They will fail an appraisal for seemingly minor things like peeling paint, cracked glass, loose handrails, etc. 

I'm keeping my eyes peeled on Loopnet and similar sites. 

Sometimes it's taking care of peeling paint and slapping water heater straps on and installing a CO detector.

Venture funding masks fundamentally poor business models in the industry.  

(Bushes over grown, paint peeling, A/C looks like it was from the 70's, etc, etc etc).  

I went with her to several commissioner sales and there seems to be a lot of competition, so we eventually got our Germantown flip as a FISBO just by staying diligent and keeping our eyes peeled (Many of the comps on our street go in ~10 days, so it is a highly sought-after area with a lot of competition).