The exception would be if this was already permitted for STR - short term rentals VRBO then it might be worth it based on location.If you just want to buy a home and have a unit to help cover the mortgage I would still insist on lower price point or NO HOA to help get the total mortgage down so that the other unit covers 50% of the overall payment.  

Do you do flat on coat 1 and then add gloss for the second coat on walls and trim but not worry about cutting in perfectly?

Not all crimes are the same and it depends on what the person has done since then.  24 years is a long time...unless it is someone who beat his wife, then hell no.  

We then focused on marketing the property effectively to attract buyers quickly.

Set a goal of 10 contacts a day, then bump it up to 20, then 30.

What Fannie Mae would ask for:FINAL divorce decree issued by an actual judge, and the presiding judge for that matter, plus ALL therein referenced addenda to said decree. 

Each property has a home warranty so repairs typically just require a call to the home warranty company who then organizes the logistics of setting up a handyman from their network.

So you need to remember that there are about 4- 6 big box lenders that fund most of the Hard Money loans and then you have thousands of brokers selling their products and lots of times someone thinks they are dealing with a lender but they are not, they are dealing with a broker who has a lending sounding name and this broker is set up with an account at a few different lenders. 

If a property was sold at auction 2012, then again in 2016, and the tax cert is still held by the state, would that be eligible for a counter offer?

I then went to CoStar and looked it up.