Prior to making your offer, you should be able to visually assess the condition.

Read a book about worker conditions in older times.

Nothing about this was mentioned in the condition report.

They recently placed a tenant in a C class property of mine and after 3 months they allowed the tenant to break the 12-month lease if they left the property in good condition/clean and he returned all but $200 of their damage deposit (used to change locks/clean property).

Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York recently sanctioned a mortgage servicer for violating a bankruptcy discharge injunction when it required a debtor to sign a subordinate mortgage and note—pursuant to FHA’s partial claim process—as a condition of a loan modification agreement, after the debtor’s personal obligation on the underlying loan had been discharged in bankruptcy.

I will rather go for an yearly lease with rent increase according to market conditions, which can be more than 5%.

Maybe you could get the properties under conditional contract with a due diligence period.  

I like your tip on the 30.00 guesstimate to work in a high low cushion depending upon property condition.  

My partner has a second hand furnace that is in very good condition, 12 years old. 

@Eric Greenberg What exactly was the fine for (location of the fence, height, condition, etc.)?