They don't seem to care (or understand) that this will sink our building financially - they only say that we need to bring things back into compliance with the laws and are not offering any other solutions.We are looking at a potential VERY high special assessment to cover a lot of repair expenses (mostly to interior work due to tenant damage of rented units) so I'm looking to arm myself with information and questions to ask.Any input will be GREATLY appreciated! 

(as for California and New york it seems)Our goal is to invest on rental properties (we can't flip from France) with very low expenses in a safe area.

So I am trying to run numbers on a few larger apt. buildings and the expenses the owners have given me are obviously inflated for tax benefits.  

It's a little different investing there as older homes (these are 100+ years old) can bring on a lot more expenses than normal.

That takes time and effort and expenses for due diligence that should be set off by the sale price and I doubt he will look at it that way.You'll get a better deal by making an offer on the whole mess, not cherry picking.Are these to flip or hold, determine that on each property. 

He does exceptional work and is always the lease expensive of the bids I get

Andrew - thanks for the advice on putting together a buyers list - I just started this "whole thing" six weeks ago and have been so busy marketing and trying to get deals that I didn't network at the meetings like I should have - I was just chunking it down into baby steps to keep from getting overwhelmed lol

Many investors seem to take the approach that a PM is just an unnecessary added expense that they can handle themselves, but I know from experience that a great PM will usually rent your property more often, for more money...not to mention take the daily management grind off the owner's plate...freeing them up to do more deals!  

If we were to get into this and find out we did not enjoy being landlords, at least we would be able to offset our monthly living expenses along the way.  

It seems I might be 'self dealing', but if I kept all income and expenses in the same initial ratio, is that the same as how I have read you can 'partner' your own cash with a SDIRA?