Here is Fannie:Permissible Exceptions to Continuity of ObligationAlthough the following refinance transactions do not meet the definition of continuity of obligation, the new refinance transaction will be eligible and not bound by the limited eligibility parameters described below if any of the following are applicable: The borrower on the new refinance transaction was added to title 24 months or more prior to the disbursement date of the new refinance transaction.The lender documents that the borrower acquired the property through an inheritance or was legally awarded the property (for example, divorce, separation, or dissolution of a domestic partnership).

They rehab the property prior to selling it to you so maintenance fees will be low in the first years of you having the property.

Rehab books and the Tax strategy books cover to cover, and I have not fully read any book in the last 22 years haha, but these I have.I have a realtor that I've worked with for nearly 10 years up here (I say up  here as I lived in Tucson for 28 years prior to PHX), he's helpful kind of but not really helping me at this point, can't totally blame him as my money still isn't lined up.

Investing out of state can be very intimidating, please do your homework and educate yourself prior to jumping in.

I know that the VA loan requires an inspection prior to approval.

Finally I would want something saying that the empty unit is subject to your inspection prior to closing. 

If property is being financed, some lenders (depending on the repair needed) may require it be completed prior to closing.  

Can I buy a property directly from the owner prior to hitting auction or am I already behind the ball?

I don't know if the engineers have gotten smarter but I see a lot of foundation problems on houses built in the 80's and prior. 

I do know that if you're not a RE professional and even if you're actively managing your real estate assets you will not be able to write off any of your passive losses from your rental real estate when you're over 150k AGI (you mentioned you were 190k AGI - prior to itemized deductions and exemptions).Also the other thing is that when accountants go to create your depreciation schedule they dont take the 1.75M and divided it over 27.5 years.They typically (other wise proven via engineering study or cost seg report) use the LA/ventura county tax assessors value for land and improvement(building) and they take that percentage on the assessors website and apply it to your 1.75M sales or acquisition price to determine your depreciable basis.So for example, if the improvement was 80% of 1.75M then you have a depreciable basis of $ 1,400,000 / 27.5 years = $ 50,909.10 annual write off.Back to the above REpro, if you're not a REpro, you wouldnt be able to write off anything against your active/earned income and you feel the full brunt of the tax man unfortunately.