They have a new puppy, I was thinking a small gift card to a Petsmart and also a check for $50 as a wedding gift. 

If 35% to 50% of income vs. rent is not "affordable",  there are a few options,  they could make more money, reduce expenses,  get roommates,  or move.  

I know that involves SEC rules and such. 

it sort of depends if your property is an A or C property  on an A you should almost always go with new stainless steel In a dilapidated apartment with low rents I might throw in a used $50 appliance and if it breaks just replace with another as repairing usually costs more tha fixing  Nowadays you can get a new stainless stove for $400-500 so you might as well.

As a general rule, I would never pay any up-front money to a lender or lending organization.All the love in the world to the entrepreneurs who take the risks to start up businesses and bring new services to the world.

It would give me a better idea for determining if it will cashflow and what I should be offering on these properties.Alternatively if anyone has experience with foreclosures in the CNY or Syracuse area and has a general rule of thumb (if one exists) for making offers on foreclosure listings I'd love to hear about that as well.  

my understand of the guidelines:Second home has to be more than 50 miles from current home.Second home has to close to a tourist area. 

I’d say 50%+ of my guests were leaving the front door unlocked before I got it and now it auto locks after 3 minutes.

If you haven't heard of them already some quick rules of thumb are to look for properties that rent for 1% or more than the purchase price and generally you should expect about 50% of your rental income to go back out in expenses like property management, capital expenditure, maintenance, vacancy etc.

They are young and desperate to move and willing to consider a 2-year lease for 50$ less as well.