Distressed properties could be a result of absentee owners, bad landlords or a sign of the market deteriorating. 

How much of the deterioration of the windows is due to normal ageing and how much due to excessive moisture will also be hard to establish conclusively in court.  

What exactly is “normal wear and Tear”/ The definition is the deterioration of the property that occurs during occupancy where the tenant cleans regurarly and cares for the premises reasonably.

I found rates and terms were much better when I used a local bank (specifically a bank that operates on the island).I certainly agree with establishing an LLC to conduct business but you'll want to be careful how you operate so your day-to-day activities don't cross between multiple companies and deteriorate the value of the LLC.  

If it is the asphalt style asbestos siding which is badly deteriorated, you may want to book a "vacation" after you close and remove it yourself; dispose of it (obviously in compliance with your local and state laws.)  

If you'd really like to speed up the process potentially without spending more money, you can call the Plaintiff's attorney and explain to him the urgency of getting this sale approved (ex. deteriorating property, etc) and obtain a timeline from him. 

Some of this will depend on if the fire burnt a hole in the roof and now you have a rain getting inside the house cause mold or deterioration.  

They are surrounded by boarded up and deteriorating other properties. 

In our condo, we have to pay for snow removal and all repairs to streets and parking lots -- part of our condo fee, but it could get very expensive if you only have 5 or 6 houses to split the costs with, even more so if nobody is required to contribute as then it probably deteriorates and ruins your access.

Ignoring the cost of capital, the cost of deploying the capital, the cost of redeploying capital and the possibility of deterioration of future total return percent in new investments would be a few risks that approach does not take into account.Yield ends up being one of those words which tends to get used much with a variety of underlying meanings.