I know that by law (regardless of what a lease may say) landlords are supposed to provide basic amenities (hot water, electricity) to renters, but what are the timelines that such services need to be made available to the renter when there is a plumbing or electrical failure? 

LOL.. but the state is really cracking down they have inspectors driving projects and checking licenses.

Personally, I find it is more like the 1% rule and it basically means that you’d want rent at 1% of your acquisition cost plus repairs.  

I was depressed and Lost my drive.

Basically if it's not priced abound 200k, it's more than likely got serious issues.  

You will need to take additional risk and buy from places like auctions, HUD, Homepath, wholesalers, FSBO, drive-bys, Craigslist, etc. 

Getting a mortgage means I have to pay significantly more in closing costs while getting a HE loan is basically free.

The best source is drive the streets, talk to residents and investors who already have a footprint in the area.

Anything with structural issues, highly likely in these neighborhoods, than you should just ignore it because you'll basically spend $5000 or more just on those things let alone any cosmetic issues that would need to be addressed. 

My first was a 17" that lasted me until 2015, when I upgraded to a 15" with a sold state drive - and that makes a big difference in speed!