The damage is a combination of vandalism -( holes in the wall, bath fittings ripped out, stain on the carpet, refrigerator having to be replaced) and lack of response by the PM the property was vacanted without any inspection being carried out and the pile of rubbish and food which was left behind casued a build up of mould & maggots, which could have been avoided if the PM were doing there job!

Dig my meter out, check the safety circuits, all ok, find that the gas valve is getting voltage but no gas is coming out.  

These properties were in B- neighborhoods or better so safety was never an issue.

***if there are issues in the appraisal( life safety/condition) you will need to negotiate with seller on who picks up that tab.

Also, you are only competing with the 1.5% of homes that are 6 bed/bath and larger, not the 98.5%.Just some food for thought. 

My worry is that this takes away my margin of safety and can affect my ability to finance/refinance.So my question is: Is it unwise to pay more than comps would suggest, even if the rental income can justify the higher price?

One suggestion I would give to anyone looking at doing this is know exactly what your ARV is (and keep it on the low side), know your costs going in and adding 30% to that for safety margin and DON'T overlook how much monthly holding costs are because they will eat you alive if you're not careful!

It is close to a couple small Universities and decent retail/food areas, so I could see it appealing to many different tenant types.

A laundry list of items (especially ones that were already visible during the previous home tour) is a sign of someone with cold feet or getting bad advice from their agent/family/friends.If you are in a seller's market you tell them you aren't going to fix anything outside of safety or hazard issues.

:D Great thing though, got to meet a local and eat some great food.