They were smart in that they put the driveway deep in the culdesac, and the entry on that side as well... but the landscaping and curb appeal was GONE. 

I don't have a lot of time to get too deep into this, but if you're in Houston, then right now is a great time to use Hard Money.

If we had financed with an ARM, we would have been in deep, deep trouble.Eventually, we began renting out our old house.

Would be a money maker at the right price.Without digging too deep in the numbers, probably should be more around $700K or so.

Being new like myself I lean towards partnering with them and would likely have deep pockets for projects and could turn into larger projects that I otherwise wouldn't be able to do.

Bigger pockets im in deep!

When they leave I would do a quick but thorough updating of the place (Paint/carpet/appliances) and a super deep clean, then rent it out for the 2000 a month.

But I dont see a real estate crash, at least not a super deep/long one..  

I haven't dug deep into the property as far as its condition, we had this talk last week and i am still looking into the idea.

The lender will want you to start spending money right away but certain items you want to verify as correct before getting in to deep with a property.If you want to stay local and limited product comes up then you have to be careful about how you proceed.