I received a quote from Mark DeLaquil at Eon Roofing and Window. www.eonroofing.com, He was willing to talk me through the repair I needed rather than charge me a couple hundred bucks for a five minute job.

We brought the earnest money out of our personal bank account $500 and fortunately found an end buyer within our inspection window.

Roof, A/C, kitchen, bath, windows are all updated as of 1 year.

You could be below market to the "average" unit in the zip code but if you're in the glide path of the airport with jets are taking off every 5 minutes, the Taco Bell parking lot lights shine right in the windows, freeway exit is two houses away, a busy fire station is nearby with sirens all night long, etc then the price may still be too high.Are there any safety issues that could be helped with lights, cameras, etc?

I tell our homeowners, throw your good taste out the window.

I get them to cover closing costs, add in amenities like appliances, window covering, water softeners,  all the things we would have to pay for, they pay for, $ not out of our pocket is $ "discounted".

Everything from the window choice and wrapping to the flooring decision to the layouts and general roof pitch.

Then financing for the horizontal ( toughest in my mind to get)Lastly vertical construction funding.and if this all lines up TIME  most places its 1 year to 5 years to get a project approved and ready for vertical.

Long story short, I ended up buying that condo, only to find out, after one month, that my living room windows were leaking big time during the stronger rains.

For investment properties you should be using private/hard money lenders, but if it's a primary or you have a long window of time to secure the financing then traditional may be the way.Overall, it should be easier to get approved via creative financing though as there are options and workarounds for nearly every scenario (they just may cost more the more creative you need to get).