We have huge oil discoveries offshore, very large construction projects, and housing prices are on the up and up.

While there are no common rules for which constitutes "too large" of a concession/credit, our experience has been if you are north of 10 - 12(ish)% of the purchase price, the lender is more apt to:order a new appraisal on the property (as something was obviously incorrect with the old appraisal); underwrite the lower (after credits), value of the property; or walk away.We had a concession of 18% on one purchase, but it was a unique situation involving a discovery late in the Closing process and it took a lot of phone time with the lender, who in the end withheld a portion of the mortgage funds (almost like a construction draw) until the required remediation had been affected.While there are legal and process differences, in a real estate transaction, between Québec and the rest of Canada (RoC), finance regulation is predominately federal and has little variation across the country.

From the post title I was expecting a profound story of self-discovery.  

For specific things, you might want to say, "An unauthorized animal on the premises shall result in a fee of $20 per day from discovery for the increased monitoring required until the animal is removed, plus a fee of $10 per day for increased wear and tear on the premises due to the presence of the animal."

There is no such thing today as price discovery.  

@Colleen Ferrari,What you will likely discover is that THEY are not "making over the cap", their business entities make the money and take the deductions against taxable income.If they are structured they way I learned it, they are only taking a minimal salary / dividend split - say, $30,000 annually in salary (taxed as earned income) and $60,000 annually in dividend (taxed as regular income).David J Dachtera"Success is not a destination.

First things first,get a contractor to go with you and map out line by line everything that is wrong and the appropriate cost of repairs.Second,figure out the After Repair Value of the property by using local experienced real estate agents who sell these properties.Third is to take that information to whatever source of financing you are considering getting a loan from and showing them your discovery to get an idea of what they will give you for how much money upfront.Once you're satisfied you can still make a good cash flow after all is said and done and the apts are all rented out,make the offer to the seller showing him all the things you found wrong and need to do to get the place repaired and rented in the least amount of time.Again,I would seriously find a partner who can help you do all this because it will be overwhelming to an amateur who has never tried this before.Good luck to you.

I currently have two companied assisting me in the discovery of new opportunities but it just doesn't seem to be enough.

You don't have all the facts until discovery has ceased.

That trait has been passed on to me, and through that discovery I was able to open a beauty salon with my wife, an internet based collectibles business, and now beginning to invest in real estate while simultaneously working as an agent for Keller-Williams.