First, this assumes a 20% discount (see question #1).  

Seller agrees to lower price (I would need a fairly significant discount to make it worth the out of pocket expense and risk that repair is more expensive than planned)3.

Those are discounts of 35% and 31% which is pretty good.

RE because discounted purchase and leverage.

Here is the book's link: http://www.amazon.com/Shift-Estate-Agents-Tackle-Tough/dp/0071605266#reader_0071605266 Now if you focus onhelping the seller sell their home and preserve their equity dollars by selling on terms rather than for cash at a discount, you can get a win for you as the investor or agent, for the seller who is stuck, and for the buyer that has good income but needs time to get a mortgage.

that you bought the house at a discount to the redemption value, so if someone wanted to exercise the right to redeem the debt you would get a little kicker payment and be done.  

Depends on what your practice is anchored in.Don't discount the thought of a performing note purchased at a discount and refinancing the borrower into a better loan.

I'm willing to work on a discounted commission for an opportunity to learn.

So you really aren't buying at a huge discount anymore on most deals, the ones that keep your lights on.

Use that to determine todays value,then discount the offer price to account for all of the unknowns.