One other thing that scares me are the solar panels on the roof and the lease that goes along with them, about $80 per month.

No script, no panel. 

UCCs are typically not liens against real property but rather personal property such as solar panels.

you want to know these things- high ceiling it's a drop, regular type ceiling it is flush or small drop), some sort of pendant light for the breakfast area, flat flush mount light for the kitchen area (not the over the sink light), new 6 panel doors unless you are going retro in which case it is usually better to stay flat doors, etc...

We scheduled an inspection and found some code violations with the electric panel in the apt.  

The floors were extremely unleveled and the new flooring was already coming apart, in one unit a previous landlord spray textured over every surface of the property including the thermostat/door knobs/trim, in both units the kitchen and bathrooms were falling apart and barely above usable condition, the staircase in one unit was obviously illegal it was so steep, and the walls/ceilings in both units were a mixture of poorly cobbled together panels, cracked lathe & plaster, suspended ceilings that should have been replaced a decade ago, and entire surfaces made from something I couldn't determine.  

I think you will also want a second water shut off valve - because if one tenant does not pay their bill, and water gets shut off, you don't want the paying tenant to lose water too; I have seen that happen ;) but it was not at my property.And for electric, you might need three meters and panels, the third being for any common or shared electric such as hallway lighting.

He did say the roof is less than 10 years old and the electrical panel is updated.

If it's just a service upgrade or panel changeout that's easy but if you rewired the entire house you could be in for a big headache.  

Hey BPers,I'm Joint Venturing on a project with my cousin and I'm trying to get and vet contactors to do the following work:  electrical (breaker panel replacement for sure), plumbing (basement stack replacement and maybe little fixes), flooring, kitchen renovation, bath renovation, drywall, and painting (though painting I could probably do myself with the family.)Here's the caveat, I'm looking for contractors that do work inside the inner city of North St.