It is lucky a roof even lasts for 40 years no matter what the material is...You may also keep an eye on other expensive things like water heater and AC. 

I think the real key is to be consistent in what you are doing and keep refining your letters/postcards, scripts, email campaigns and other marketing material. 

It's a tough market up there.

I can tell you Austin is a tough play for cash flow, but I can't explain exactly why, other than the market is very hot.  

Do you provide the VA with training material?

Now if the value would have to include the mobile home then it will be a tough time.  

Most come through the door want to buy something for $50k and sell it for $100k and oh yeah they dont want to have to co any repairs and they want to finance it with 5% down or worse yet no money down seller financing because they read a book they bought off of late night tv.I wandered a bit there. short sales take longer than bank owned property and the negotiation is more convoluted. you can literally work on a short sale for 2 months only to have the bank foreclose anyhow. there really isnt much benefit to the seller consequently its hard to keep their head in the game when the going gets tough.  

When you run your comps, it's important that siding, square footage, numbers of BD/BA, materials etc are similar to the subject property. 

reality is people normally hold property or live in a property no more than 7 years..So the 10 year threshold is tough.. plus that puts those that bought pre 08.. and so many of them either lost them or divested themselves from those homes.. we as K Marie has pointed out most are in a honeymoon with buying at the bottom in a all time buyers market and have not owned them long enough to get a base line.I have seen about 3 separate threads on this topic and nary a person could respond that they owned a out of state rental for over 10 years. 

A good mentor can assist you in developing the materials that would be needed to bring the deal to an investor.