Yeah when I did the walk through, my eyes were getting opened and I was like oh there are large holes in the ceiling and I started realizing the age of the home and how different it was built in so many different ways that I am not as familiar with.

My first few inspections were helpful to help understand building systems and routine maintenance schedules (don’t have to worry about that stuff when you’re a renter.)Sadly inspections afterward, for investment properties, only turn up obvious items that’s hard to miss if you personally walk the property looking in the nooks and crannies.Rot, poor wiring, improper framing, water leaks, etc that are behind the walls is when I’ve gotten into trouble.

The rehabs I've done locally are a lot easier as I can walk the property and apply painter's tape to areas I want addressed during the rehab, or resolve any communication issues real time. 

Get a walk-thru of either yourself personally or an agent face-timing to you where you direct the camera as he does the physical walking (or the agent's flunky).

(you just have to walk a little further) I bought the entire lot for $3,400!

Run, don't walk, there will always be another deal, and one without a squatter involved....

Due to population density and Building Code complexity, the fee is well earned as it's not a walk in the park to obtain construction permits.

I'm representing a client now who is buying a property where the seller's GC walked off with ~$100k and all he did was gut the place (which didn't required anything near $100k).As for finding such a "person/service," I personally don't think you should box yourself into a specific field. 

Bookkeeping and accounting are just a few of the hundreds from graphic design to dog walking.

We ended up walking away and he landed in foreclosure six months later.