I'd like to ask investors familiar with this market if that limitation is generally true for this area or if they routinely come across better deals than that. 

You've listed all of the most common strategies.What I see most wholesalers get wrong is they don't have good follow up routines.

Well, here a “4 points” inspection is routine for new insurance....plumbing, electrical, hvac and roof, on homes of a certain age anyway.

All,For those of you that utilize a property management service, how often are routine inspections performed on your properties?  

This is pretty common and routine, but it will be expensive. 

There are many solutions that you can do yourself.There are some that you never want to do yourself.The EPA guidance on mold issues is here:  http://epa.gov/mold/moldguide.htmlThe digital copy of the same information is here: http://epa.gov/mold/pdfs/moldguide.pdfThis document does not help you estimate costs for repairs, but does help you see through the "smoke screen" that many remediation companies will put up when talking about mold in homes.In spite of what John D. recommended in his response above, the use of a chemical or biocide that kills organisms such as mold (chlorine bleach, for example) is not recommended as a routine practice during mold cleanup.  

I routinely deal with 5 year balloon notes that don't get renewed and all of a sudden they have to scramble to avoid workout.

I routinely remind my team of this too across the board within the PM and TK business. 

As long as you fly under the radar… (one a year)  you won't raise eyebrows from the CRA.

We routinely get calls from prospects telling of scammers advertising our properties.