I don't know if this applies in your area, but in California a licensed real estate agent had to perform a short sale.   

The low priced stuff never performs the way it pencils out.  

We have everyone who moves into our community fill out an application and we perform our due diligence check of their background, credit....  

The buyer hasn't performed but you don't want to move on so you have been allowing them to skate on a few issues in hopes that they will get their act together.

In all seriousness...it seems to  me that you just have to show up to close and document that you were ready willing and able to perform.  

You can easily identify the properties that have had improvements – they will be noted by one of the two symbols below.Properties with this logo have had certain repairs performed by The Home Depot as a preferred repair contractor for Fannie Mae.

I had an appraiser perform a subject to appraisal and he said that with a fresh coat of paint and some other cosmetic repairs, the property would appraise for $300,000 at this point in time on the market.

I would plan on the lower end of rent values when calculating your #s.I could do 1% rent to price but it'd have to be in a stellar neighborhood with all new infrastructure (roof, AC, interior, etc) to drive down expected maintenance costs over the 15 years I can finance the property for.Don't get locked in with something that's a marginal performer with no exit strategy that doesn't result in a loss.

It's a great way to create wealth for you and your partners.I assume that you have already obtained all the historical performance data from the seller, but if you have not, that is a good place to start to see how this property in particular has performed.  

One thing to also mention is that those phone conversations are a good first step in performing screening.