This will be one of the biggest factors in getting a very high appraisal. 

This deal really taught me how to factor in all expenses before purchasing a property - as my first fix and flip I was lucky to make some money but not as much as I would have had I factored in all expenses and known the major issues the house had

You will definitely want to factor those into your number-crunching. 

If those look good, start factoring in vacancies, maintenance, repairs, etc.

Anyhow, I found out this guy had many liens that I know stick with the property that I would have to pay if I purchased, no problem, would just factor that into the purchase price.However, this guy also had over $1 million in federal tax liens.

There are a lot of other factors to consider.

You can deep dive into average employment questions, recession proofness and so many other factors.

Seems like the biggest factor in lending money to someone.

In this crazy market often times the appraised value is only about 80% of asking price so a safe fudge factor is to set expectations on having a cash position for more like ~350k to ~580k depending on whether you qualify for FTHB or not.5. 

Are they doing everything they can to expose properties to the widest possible market?