From what I see online, there seems to be a lot of low hanging fruit in those 2 states.

if so $15K seems low to me.

if one has a good friend that is in the contracting business, able to do a lot of the renovations himself. what kind of partnership proposal would entice someone like that to maybe provide renovation at a very low cost?

Even in this heated up market, deals are out there.

That said, it's best (especially when buying from Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.) to use a tile with a slightly rounded edge to reduce lippage (when one edge is slightly higher than the adjoining one).

Look for smaller banks offering low cost options.

Hi all,One of the keys of effective negotiation is to have some way to justify a really low (or high) offer. 

High demand but low supply

I suggest looking for value-add opportunities such as disrepair, low rents, and other signs of poor management.

As you go down the scale of desirability, the price goes down, until you reach the small station, in a bad location, hard to get to, in a low income neighborhood, with environmental compliance issues.