Deals were getting harder to find so most of these house flippers went to writing books and selling courses to make the majority of the money.

It must be a major name lender or a local mortgage brokers with good reputation. 

I am also thinking it has a major problem that are not repairable but do you think I can ask the agent for something like this?

There are a few minor things I already know about (which I would expect to see on a report), but I don't anticipate any major problems--this is just a "due diligence" walk-through before releasing the deposit. 

I feel more comfortable owning properties (even if cash-flow negative temporarily) in the major urban markets.

If you plan to leave them and rent it, make sure there are no major moisture issues in your crawlspace. 

The roof is a major ticket item that can really hurt the renovation budget. 

Designing new construction or major reno is different.

Suggest a full inspection, foundation, termite as well as roof.Any major issues like zoning, foundation etc, is a deal break.What is the unemployment rate there? 

There is no point in trying to retrain a bad tenant.Why is your rent below market, this is probably a major part of your problem.