I think more of what you are asking is how the occupancy level and accuracy will affect what kind of loan you can get and how much you will put down and how much the debt service will be.A regular lender at 90% occupied maybe 6.5% fixed at 75% ltv.If you get into value add deals you will pay points and a much higher rate to fund and lower LTV.You will then need to refi after stabilizing about 1 year out.So you build the carrying costs into the amount of time needed.The books will determine the verified income and actual costs.From there you run your desired cap going in and that tells you around the price you want to pay.Now if the books are out of normal standard margins you have to ask yourself why that is (deferred maintenance,undisclosed credits to tenants,disguising fees paid to themselves in other line items,etc.)

Illustrating where investors are willing to park their money and collect.If you are a lower level investor and have time to hunt and pick on deals then sure you can still find deals where you make high returns.

Look for the ones advertising aggressively on Craigslist... we are currently filing papers to make me his unlicensed assistant which will give me realtor-level access to the MLS.

It is like most businesses where those people who have the skill-sets, education and business savvy are very successful and many other people are not.

Once you find out, just supplement him with someone that has the unfilled skill and your repair costs will go down significantly.Secondly, never let anybody do any work without giving you an estimate.

Throw on top of that your involvement in the tenant selection process or actively engaged in rehabs by purchasing fixers that you make ready to rent.It is not necessary to manage your own properties, but it makes it easier especially when you only have 1 or 2 properties.Bottom line is it is a judgment call what level of activity constitutes "regularly involved."

No, it was your skill.

.: specific neighborhoods and the level of repairs they'd be willing to make.

So I like, university's, county seats, level 1 trauma hospitals, prisons, stable employment bases that are diverse...

Land speculation -anywhere - is a sub-niche of investing requiring its own skill sets.