Sure you can go to higher loan to value but you will pay more in fees and have a higher rate for a relatively small amount of money.

Give them the bill for the repairs BEFORE it is repaired and see if they pay it.

New York on the other hand has some higher taxes so it can make the cash flow a little harder.I have been seeing some good deals a little further North in and around Lowell, Dracut, Nashua even up in North Conway, which is a great STR location.  

What about paying the neighbor to clean it up for a few months?

We do mostly govt as they pay more and like clockwork, just screen property.

You will need to maintain the property with repairs and eventually capital expenditures as well, plus rentals don't stay occupied 100% of the time and renters don't pay 100% of the time.

Either way, you could bring in a money partner for the rehab and offer a percentage of the profit when you sell or pay them out through a refinance.

The buyer had someone else pay more to build it than the value added, they had someone else do the associated work, they can get home purchase financing, they do not need to wait months for the ADU to be constructed.  

There maybe instances where you might do this for a short term, say allowing the buyer to file the next tax return to qualify.

Pay attention on how many days it lasted on the Market cause they are all going the same day for Cash.