I dug into the numbers a little deeper and found my INS. , property tax and garbage were low.

The cherry on top is the deeper business relationship I'm establishing with the couple.  

It's better to mail deeper (7 times to one person rather than once to 7 people).

If you decide to go forward with a deeper analysis then you can call your own insurance company and get a quote, come up with your future capex based on the age of the property and prior replacements.

I chose to do it slightly differently to avoid a Heloc or 2nd mortgage encumbrance, so far I've paid zero interest and my numbers are going to be triple what your parents expect to spend.I have a credit forum if you or your parents would like to dig deeper but the basic brush strokes are these.1.

Narrowing down the type of investment that suits your current situation with regard to time, finances and risk (even if you delve into other REI areas later) can really help whittle down the amount of time you need to devote to research and decreases the probability of analysis paralysis.Best of luck in your new adventure!

Feel free to PM me if you'd like to connect and troubleshoot a bit deeper.  

how do you do it etc, dig deeper if time permits. 

If the latter, you're only digging a deeper hole. 

One price drop and an extra month of holding costs (since those things often end up going together) and you are pretty close to break even.Draw your own conclusions but to me this is saying that using a 70% screening for deals in the low to moderately priced range should give a good feel if you should dig deeper into it.