If nothing else, have a verification of property before you close so you know the job is done right.

It is difficult for a condo to appreciate as an LTR and even more so as an STR when there are hundreds of other identical units and you have limited control over the property in order to force appreciation in terms of paint, renovations, adding a pool, adding pulll-up bars, adding a mini golf, etc. 

Purchase price: $175,000 Cash invested: $25,000 The perfect house hack property - 1 'master unit' has 2beds, 1.5 baths, front porch/main entry, and separation from the other 3 units (stacked 1bed units with identical layouts, added-on to the original house) so you can't hear or smell the other tenants.

Look at the 4 or 5 closest nearly identical sales and get an average, that’s about what they are worth.

If you don't qualify conventionally, then there are various commercial no income verification products available for single family rentals.  

You could have 2 properties next to each other that appear identical but one was built by a luxury home builder and the other by a crappy builder, and that could be a huge change in value.

I recently inquired about a property that had identical sold comps (likely built at the same time by the same developer in the 1970s) within half a mile in much better condition.

I had an almost identical situation with a med school tenant who had bad credit so offered to pay 6 months up front and then another 6 months when his next set of housing allowance came thru.Even with that, he was a bit of a nightmare...was late with the next 6 mos payment and then only had 3 mos rather than the 6 agreed.

I have asked him for some verifications and he hasn't got back with me.

A nearly identical house next door but without a finished basement has just sold for 365,000 so I do feel confident on my ARV.