We had nothing to lose negotiating a lower price, so we should have gone down that road.

A 50k property at 500/mo rent will likely lose money every month. 

Investors are better off losing the deal than getting into a situation where major repairs come as a surprise after the fact.Likewise, investors are ahead of the game when they do their due diligence on the contractors performing the rehab work.

Then venture further into deep waters. 

Quick sidebar, if the same prospect receives 25 postcards from different sellers all saying the same thing, the message begins to lose effectiveness, and it might be time for the savvy marketer to move to something new. 

And if you don't know the difference between NOI and cash flow, you're probably not experienced enough to take down 22 units without losing your shirt. 

They will lose the house in 2 weeks unless $20,000 is paid to bring it current. 

By which I mean there will be free national websites for commercial  like Zillow or Trulia where you can see everything people are offering for sale and what they're asking, Sort of like CREXI or Loopnet or the one that was sued out of existence but more complete and comprehensive.But I don't think that will stop the 'pocket listing' process because that happens today in residential with really sought after properties.Nor do I think it will diminish the value of a really good commercial broker.When Zillow/Trulia/Redfin all came out people predicted all of the RE agents would lose their jobs and no one would ever pay a real estate commission again.

Loans for properties is good, as long as you are making money, not losing it. 

The property will lose money when you move out unless you can find something creative to do with it.