I've been in many homes that from the outside I thought there would be extensive work required only to find that fresh paint or removing wall paper was all that was needed to be marketable.I'm saying, go look at yourself first before you involve others , waste their time once shame on you, waste their time again, shame on them for going with you.Now, driving by, knowing the area and your market, you should know the top end value of a home similar to what you're driving by.

Re rent at market rates with a fresh landlord tenant relationship.

Mainly from those that sell these investments. and for a fresh rehabbed house ( as long as its done right) probably fairly accurate.But there are issues you can't control like weather, tenant , dogs , etc etc. 

Since you've learnt a lot of about REI and deal analysis since then, analyze with a fresh pair of eyes.

Whatever path they take, I would be happy to help since it is still relatively fresh on my mind(I passed mine back in November).

Now maybe I'm just wanting a perfect world, and need to give in to some imperfections in the deal, but it seems that the places would yield higher values if they're shown with fresh paint, sparkling clean, and no junk piled in the bedrooms.

Now with the carpets out and fresh paint on the walls (done after the pictures below were taken), it smells much better :)This is a picture from an MLS listing from 2010:  Here it is today, after my husband demo'd the wheelchair ramp:We're planning to paint the exterior trim Greek Vanilla (SW) and replace the shutters with black vinyl.  

Using this method, the Seller doesn't have to worry about the tenants or building and will get even more than their asking price in the future and you will have a cash flowing rental that you can remove the existing tenant, spruce up the place and increase your cashflow with a fresh tenant OR better yet a tenant that for a fee would take over the option and related expenses.

New investors just fresh from a Carlton Sheets seminar think that they have to have 30% equity going in but that only applies when it's a distressed property, not a turn key.

I'm fresh out of the water, looking for guidance