do you guys prefer to only invest in newer homes  i.e. built after a certain year to reduce the possibility of having to do a lot of reno on wiring, plumbing, etc. or does it just depend on seeing the house and determining the condition that its in?

Unless you can get the price significantly reduced, walk away Tim!

We also were able to get the property taxes reduced by filing a complaint with the county.

IMO killeen is a solid investment. just have to watch which areas you are getting into. there are some pretty rough areas near fort hood but killeen is great because it is close enough to austin and people commute from there to austin as well. with fort cavazos near by and the new samsung plant coming online in taylor, it is a solid choice with steady demand for MF.

.- Getting under contract and then reducing the price because of findings is common, but major reductions are likely to tick off the seller unless you have strong justification.

-Should I reduce my price offering? 

I start with market rent or a little less to reduce vacancy.

Using your $100K example, the 6% seller assist is far more valuable to this buyer than merely reducing the purchase price by $6K because the 6% seller assist is a $6,000 reduction in funds required to close whereas reducing the purchase price by $6K equates to less than a $200 savings (2.5% down payment + some incidentals).

Search for this in a Michigan Public Notice legal newspaper or an online legal notice aggregator site like USALEGALNOTICES and the fount of MI pre FC/FC data will be available to you.

Their new online system is really confusing, and I have had to call customer support for help each time I needed to wire/ACH funds because I could never figure it out on my own (and their customer service chat box isn't set up yet).