When you've narrowed it down to one or two operators, visit them, shake their hands, tour the properties - looking someone in the eye is still one of the best ways to either gain peace of mind or clock hidden red flags. 

We drove by the house today and one of the cars on the driveway on the side of the house has graffiti written in red with the word "whore".

well that iss the other red flag, the seller on their listing is writing what the rents are and then calling it the "potential gross income".  

You can use Zillow to find comps, but I would just present it as "123 red road sold on xx/xxxx for $100,000. 

Use good quality waterproofing (think Red Guard versus a sheet of plastic) when doing tile jobs.  

Otherwise if you file for Rent and they pay, the judge will probably let them stay.. so you'd be back to square one.Give them another notice saying your filing for eviction action if they aren't out in XXX hours. and you'll be by that day to collect the keys at noon.. 

What I am looking for is the ability to review (hopefully in Excel) the prices, square footage, number of bedrooms, etc.  

Not a big red flag really.

Is this typically a red flag regarding the condition of the property?  

Or does red tape tie things up?