They'll let you know if they think you have a case and tell you that they'll fight for you if the claim is initially denied.Personally, I don't think broken pipes are routine maintenance. 

its something you would need to fight and prove, if its physically 4 just go have it corrected and also fight them on the taxable.. if you bought it with the past year for 200k but they appraising it based on 300k then you can have them lower it to the number you bought it for etc.

I don't understand why she's fighting so hard for a house that is so far underwater and that she clearly doesn't have enough income to hold onto it.

Ocean view, HUGE yard, and has a potential mother in law quarters or even a possible duplex capability.

Don't worry about what the seller think and if your agent won't write the offer for you, have them do a verbal, if they don't feel comfortable find someone else. sometimes the seller want a price the market won't pay, if you are in the hot market and have a lot of foreign investor or people with money to park their money because its safer than stock or other investments and happy with a low return then don't fight with those people. you don't go in to a bidding war with somebody to win a deal because that is not actually not a good deal. hope this help and happy to hear what others think.

What it comes down to is that some people are capable of doing it themselves and some definitely are not. 

Another thought is maybe someone knows if Appfolio has this or similar capability built in?

Ours was construction, we assembled a team capable of high construction volumes before we did our first deals.

This task was way beyond my capabilities and I didn't want a clooged hoouse!

Her capabilities are also important.