Are they being conservative or expecting everything to go perfectly? 

In the future make sure your lease has a clause about changes made to the property and always put things in writing as you go along so everyone is clear of expectations. 

In here it will be unrentable as people expect these features.

Each is big enough to service the park, but given their age, I'm expecting them to fail at some point in the future.

With rent at only $1250 on a home worth 155K and no real expectation of appreciation there is no point in holding on to th eproperty.

I'm making an offer on a property today, expecting the purchase price to be between $35k and $40k but I've never financed a property in this price range. 

I don't think smaller necessarily means easier, based on my experience with the Triplex.On partnering with experienced person is not a bad idea, make sure to cover your expectations on Exit...when you expect to sell when does your partner.

It is important to know the numbers of each project, in the regard that each project might require a different structure for securing the loan, but never expect a perfect box to fit loans into.

The outside looked decent (other than a couple broken windows and hole in the roof) but the inside was destroyed right down and including studs and rafters/trusses.

If location is strong and not much vacancy in the market do not expect landlord to negotiate much at all and for them to be very strict on what they will agree to.