With the average house price in Canada now at $720k  (yup, crazy), the OP is looking wondering how on earth he is supposed to be +ve on a deal with 20% down.

Carlos,You can use cash out as reserves when the lender you are using doen not have overlays. 

. + Operational improvements: Ops is always the hardest thing… and the quest to operate more effectively is never done.

That is also owned free and clear, but it’s in a Co-op.

The part that is concerning is according to the OP, no estimate was provided prior to doing 3k worth of work.  

Update on what happened, in case anyone's interested:The co-op owner TOLD us that he fixed the issues, and had us drive down all the way from NY to FL.

It's not the 1960s anymore and the odds of the OP having issues because of her name are slim and none (and Slim just left town).

Unless they are growing pot in the house (ie a grow op), you shouldn't need to do much. 

And if the OP acts as an 'Owner/Builder' on larger projects, he takes on a LOT of risk working with unlicensed persons including but not limited to 1) Workers compensation liability 2) Contracting to persons without a license.Is he likely to get caught?

Besides raising rent, are there other areas where you can generate revenue (such as if its a multi-unit property added coin-op laundry, or add storage)...Other than that, unfortunately there is not much you can do.