I think getting the prospective tenant to sign the lease as soon as possible after her or she has been screened is a better option. 

I did not budget properly for flooring and know it is not wise to pay 2-4$ per sf to refinish the hardwoods so they can be torn up in a couple of years so my options are a rebuff(screening) then coats of poly or laminate.

You need to know in your head what a paint job will cost for a certain size home, what flooring is per square foot, what it will cost to replace a bath and a kitchen.

@Ryan White what size multifamily are you looking into?

@Elizabeth Martinez,  based on what I've read and listened to, for time efficiency like @Christian Kenworthy mentioned, advertising sounds like the route to go for general motivated sellers/high equity, not necessarily pre-foreclosures, and start small with volumes that you can handle in terms of incoming phone calls to screen, then put them on a schedule of repetition and follow up over several months.  

$6k sounds high to me for a roof of that size, regardless if they're tearing off 2 layers, etc. 

. $200k-250k homes are on average 6,000 lot size sq ft in that area.

Somehow the academians once set it without realizing home prices have both tail ends which can shift median (i.e. mid-point) left or right especially there are huge estates or small sized home in a small community that can distort the comparison.

I also do lower income rentals, so the turnover costs can be a bit prohibitive compared to the value of the house and I have to screen through a bunch of applicants and as a result it can take up to a month for me to rent one.  

.$10 a month I have a person who screens out properties that are listed every day looking for listings that are 70% below assessed values.