In most states, including TX, the owner must disclose the inspection to future buyers, by law, so he/she loses and the future buyer gets the benefit of my hard earned money. 

But the MAIN discussion should be "how to get more than the 2.5- 5% down, with one or two additional paydays."

I have always done one main color with an accent wall color (usually in living room, master bed and sometimes dining space).

For example I know an agent that used to be a lender, so investors that don't have much lending knowledge could benefit from working with him.

The agent.A short sale is pretty much this in a nutshell1) Buyer is in trouble and sends hardship to bank2) Agent does analysis and comes up with price (Which is of course lower than what is owed to bank)3) Bank says, go ahead and put it on the market4) Somebody looks at house and puts in offer5) Seller accepts any offer that comes in because they want out (regardless of how much the bank loses)6) Bank takes weeks/months to pay for their own evaluation, look at how long on the market, run an internal appraisal, look and do a cost benefit analysis on the loan and property7) Bank accepts/counters or denys the offer (provided they decide to do anything at all and not just foreclose on the original borrower and take the house themselves)I have it happen monthly....

The cash flow could potentially pay the entire amount of the loan each month, and you'd be getting the tenants to pay down mortgage, plus extra tax benefits. 

One last point: remember that the main underlying reasons for all this regulation --- at least on its face --- is to protect the tenants and ordinary consumers.

The house probably needs a new roof and maybe 1-2 other things but it's mainly cosmetic updates.

Closely related to cash reserves.Focus on those two main metrics, and one will be as prepared as they can be.

I will be mainly looking at the fairbanks and surrounding area.