You could look at a property and not know you can't get good financing on it and spin your wheels in time and tens of thousands in costs to have a failed property purchase.

SEO is best bang for your buck no matter how you spin it.The downside on SEO is that it takes time.So the best strategy is getting a website, make it absolutely credible, then drive paid traffic to it for instant returns.

Please forgive me if I do not fully understand some of your response, my head is spinning from over analyzing the situation.I realize that I will have an appraisal done regardless.

You're spinning your wheels to nail down a "perfect formula" when it's probably impossible and certainly impractical. 

-if it's a brick/masonry building, check condition of masonry-check wood throughout building for signs of rot or termites-check house for lead based paint and asbestos-have inspector run all plumbing for extended period to check for leaks-check house (especially basement or crawlspace) for signs of water intrusion/flooding. 

How do you settle on a market and strategy and move forward when your head is spinning with totally different information?

Most real estate professionals try to put a positive spin on a declining market but these numbers should be sounding ALARMS to all, to all put your hard hats on as it is about to get UGLY!

The reason why you can't vet the properties first is because DMM is based on "close your eyes, spin around 3 times and start throwing darts, and hope one sticks".

Tell everyone not to use water for a 5 minute interval and make sure the meter is not still spinning.

That is what I planned to do, until the GA handbook's language about partial payments got my head spinning again :)