You want something that everyone recognizes as normal.Back to the exterior: you want it to be in obviously good exterior condition and have a fresh coat of paint in a normal color scheme.

Go with the flow of the conversation, get an idea on the condition of the property (repairs needed), as well as how long they have owned it (potential equity).3.

I have a lot of MF experience (enough to get a loan for a 20-unit, say), some cash (the least of our problems is finding cash to invest), but less time than I'd like due to health reasons.

It's a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath unit that a little dated but everything looks like it's in good condition.

Ask bluntly what will be the easiest price/terms/conditions for her to sell to the bank.

Thanks @Ron Herrera & @Charles SmithThe property actually looks great - probably will need to put in 2-3k to remove the ugly wallpaper but the house is in great condition...there's really no other  issues. 

If it's spending $500 repairing a bunch of stuff this year, it's probably going to be $500 repairing a bunch of stuff next year too, just different stuff (depending on the age and condition of your property, I guess), so I'm not sure why an underwriter would add regular, ongoing repairs back to the DTI calculation.However, if you're talking about items that used to require capitalization, that are now allowable as an expense under the new de minimus safe harbor regulations, then yeah - that's not really a repair, it's capital improvement that's permitted to be expensed, so I'd argue that line 19 is technically more appropriate.  

Originally I was hoping to purchase properties that are in move-in condition so that I do not have to spend the time rehabbing them.

Apartments ect.Call your county health and human services building and ask for a list of subsidized housing.

And your agent and you will no doubt have a condition of one unit (in 2-4 until property) being vacant (and even a walk through) prior to closing.