I did come across the following deal: Property: Victorian 4-Family (8 Bed, 4 Bath) (2Bed, 1 Bath per unit)Ask: $850,000Location: Weehawken, NJRent: ~$2,000 per unitAdditional income: $1,000/year - coin laundryExpenses:- Mortgage/Taxes/PMI/Insurance: $5,397*Note: I plan to do a 5% down FHA (possibly 203K depending on condition)Utilities: $250Vacancy: 7%CapEx: 10%Maintenance: 5%Zillow LinkAfter using the BP calculator - It appears that I will be paying ~$850 per month (assuming I purchase full ask).

It is in great condition though.

I offer to email over a few of the comparables we are focusing on, with detailed notes on condition differences or other offsets that they can share with the seller on how we arrived at our numbers.Kind regards,Arpad 

RR I've seen underwriters condition for that, and it's your loan officer's screw-up for asking anything of you...

I looked into a property being sold by fannie mae (through homeopath.com), the property is in pretty good condition all i would need to do really is remove the carpet and tile and install new tile throughout the house.  

With regards to ARV for a refi, like @Scott Schultz noted, appraisers (and home inspectors for that matter) typically just observe what they see and appraise the home based on its present condition. 

A couple of years ago we were able to snatch up foreclosures in mint condition, but now it's a bit more difficult.

Living room has an offwhite berber carpet that is in like new condition and looks very nice with the exception of 2 places where there are stains.

I'm a full-time Realtor here on Maui, from Seattle, and I tell all my clients that my goal is to educate them on our values and provide as much information as I can about the property, neighborhood, historical sales data, current market conditions, etc.  

Using comparable sold properties with similar condition to your end product, within a 1/2 mile (sometimes a little further), less than 6 months old, within 20% of square footage, not crossing major boundaries ( high ways, school districts, city lines, etc).