A few thoughts:$30k in renovations is a huge job for less than 1100sfZero percent chance I would put 30k in renovations to the property and then owner finance with 5k down as the chances are high you will get the property back and not in the condition you sold it

@Quynh-Chi NguyenI forgot to add: It is your property, which means you set the conditions.

Howdy, My background is in architectural engineering, commercial construction, and I can evaluate a building condition.     

I would consider it in excellent condition. 

The one thing we did agree on was trying to determine the condition of the roof.

The condition of the property will dictate whether someone would consider it a slum or not.  

Found it at Auction.com and the interior condition is much much better than I have expected.

Can't 100% take the listing agent at face value if she claims that it's purely a speed thing and that the home is in perfect condition.

And you’d be kicking yourself for a long time if you could have prevented all of this by making a few trips day trips to verify the property’s condition, the surrounding neighborhoods, interview a few agents and property managers AND maybe find some other or better deals.There’s nothing wrong with your goal to do out of market deals and rely on a team of experts.

Where you as an owner occupant would forego certain repairs, you can't necessarily run a successful rental business, if your have shabby rental conditions.