Problem was it's a common perk for Chinese restaurants to provide lower paid staff with room and board, and without the upstairs apartment, renting an apartment in nearby towns for staff is a problem with rooming house regulations beside a major expense.

And then do it again.It is actually possible to have a super experienced General Contractor, a very deep pockets money partner, and still lose money on a flip.The most common reason, in my experience, is having a project run over schedule and placing the property on the market during the off-season.

I used to accept cash back in they day from the hood. I

I am told that foundation problems are common in this part of Austin.

Unfortunately this is very common with tenants.

This is very common with local banks and credit unions - they dont have the infrastructure or volume to sell into the secondary market and simply choose not to offer those products in their business model. 

Now its pretty common and most printing companies that do investor mailers have this as an option.

I have spoken to my neighbours but they do not know who the HOA board members are ( it is a large complex with 100 + townhouses).It is very strange but it has not proved to be a problem in the past as the management company deal with the properties externally ( eg painting ) and the common parts and have always done so competently and individual oners deal with the inside of the properties.They are now proceeding with the painting without doing anything about the termites.

This can be cap ex to the building's common elements or cosmetic like a new lobby that you as a landlord may not view as a worthwhile investment but the owner occupants may.

I suggest finding people with whom you have some type of mutual connection (e.g. know people in common, the property is in an area/neighbor where you know someone lives/grew up).