For me as well as the seller.First, you have to define Sub to financing.Do you mean the reckless kind where you overpay for a property, take over the financing and borrow from others to cover closing costs and holding costs when you have no money, no credit, no income, no reserves and can't tell a warranty deed from a deed of trust and you close on the kitchen counteror do you meanbuying below market value, already having a nice income, having reserves, using escrow and title, already understanding the due on sale clause, have done a lot of creative purchases and know when to use and when not to use creative finance and how to recover if something goes amiss?

Focus on rebuilding your credit, saving for a down payment, and learning the local market.

Also helping was a relationship with that bank (deposit accounts) and good credit. 

Contractors, unless you have a working relationship with them, normally do not want you bouncing ideas off them.Understand what their hourly rate is, have a discussion with them that you are okay with paying them an hourly rate if they walk the property with you and provide you a scope of work along with an explanation of what you can/can't get away with in regards to improvements.ask them if you go with them, if they can credit you the amount that you paid.Once you develop a working relationship with a few contractors, you can bounce ideas off them and expect quality responses.I do not invest in New York.Best of luck. 

The only other option I see is a short sale, if you don't need to purchase for a few years and don't mind a temporary credit hit to save the $60k.  

Based on an inspection report on one of the deals I worked on last year, I was able to negotiate over $15k of credits and repairs for a $200k house using a $400 inspection report for one of my clients.

Even if the HOA currently allows rentals, it’s worth attending HOA meetings or reviewing their amendment history.

But WCC Division has a history for that, just sitting back and compiling evidence until it's at epic proportions enough to be a slam-dunk and, with all the ancillary people along with.

What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.?

Verifying last 2 years of rental history very important!