I've heard of people being able to essentially powerwash the pipes from the inside, but I imagine that this could damage older pipes. 

Big thing out here is area know what your buying and average rents because you can buy in one AREA of say NE and the highest rent you can obtain is $1500 but 6 blocks away in NE you can charge $500-$600 more - so location is key.

This thing was 2 blocks from where we currently live and was everything we were looking for, plus an income property!

Usually if you have a fire, flood, or storm damage, you can rebuild within a year. 

There is quite a bit of damage on the unit before I bought the property.

During a snowstorm in Feb 2021 the roof was damaged and the ceiling partially caved in.

Yes, wood siding is more subject to moisture damage and rot, but you can pretty easily cut out a section yourself and (hopefully) replace it with an exact match.

This leak was likely happening before, going unnoticed, because there is damage to the kitchen wall and connecting bathroom.

Also of importance is that the seller passed on the security deposits of current tenants to me at closing.I know that in Florida once a contract is executed any damages that occur to the property before closing are the responsibility of the buyer and this is why we buy insurance during this period.

The garage itself is pretty dilapidated--old water damaged doors, a new roof, but many ad hoc repairs and some signs of rot.