I wish I knew the answer but talking about money with people who don't care to learn how money works seems to be a loose-loose situation and seems to only breed jealousy.

It seems to me that any Nevada state court is bound to follow the Nevada Supreme Court, which upheld the Nevada statutes with HOA liens assuming super-lien status and wiping out mortgages. 

We are speaking with the seller who wants to sell the house as-is, which I understand but the seller also wants us to waive inspection.As a first time home buyer and someone who has spent months saving money for a down deposit, I am afraid of pulling out and loosing earnest money.

You ask very good questions & it is clear that you are trying to do your due diligence thoroughly, and I commend you for that.The term "Fountain Square", the neighborhood & its boundaries, are often used quite loosely, sometimes because of lack of knowledge (and with no bad intent), and sometimes, for other reasons (enhanced marketing of properties).Below is a link to Downtown Indy, a very good resource & professional website.  

Some people would say he is loosing money because his out of pocket expense have risen. 

Look into Yardi Breeze Premier and do a comparison to see if it works well for you.Buildium/Appfolio will look like loose change compared to Yardi Voyager.I personally used Yardi Voyager for the past 15 years and love it.

Gross income is irrelevant as you can gross $30 million without making a profit or even loosing money. 

Why pay more rent than your mortgage payment, and loose control of the asset, along with the appreciation just to take the equity out?

Often we get scattered chasing shiny obkects and loose sight of our goal, It starts to cloud the water.

Indeed, our criteria might have been too loose: we set a budget, type of property (single and duplex) and indicated that this will be our first real-estate investment.