I just assume the paint is lead-based and take the necessary pre-cautions. 

Unless you are Mark Zuckerberg with a super secret underground base and an unlimited budget no one is going to even look at, let alone, sign an NDA to do a quote on a house.

We look closely for asbestos and lead based paint (which are not deal-breakers for me, but they're a significant cost to remediate, so I want to know about it before I buy the property). 

These assessments determine how much you pay in property taxes, and they're based on the perceived value of your property.

These loans are based on three things.

-Start attending local real estate investing meetups-Go in with the purpose of identifying real estate investors who are in the niche you are interested in-Do research on the investors (based on conversations and their online presence)-Brainstorm ways you can add value to their business-Instead of offering to add value to their business, do it first and then offer the valueThis is actually how I get started working for a syndication company.

It sounds like you know which avenue to take based on experience and risk tolerance.

Suburban areas like the South Hills or North Hills do well here based on those factors.

Hey @Spencer Shapiro, this is a hard one to reply to because a lot of this is based on folks personal thresholds around tolerance, uncomfortability, etc. 

Also, pretty much throw out the sellers numbers and do your own based on market conditions.