There are a lot of intangibles that go into the decision too such as: location, distance to where I live, age of the mechanicals, roof, etc.

A drive by BPO it's about $50.00, so the broker will send you a full report with pictures of the house and street, or if you do an interior BPO you can pay $80-$100, and in that case the broker will take pictures of every room, mechanicals, everything inside and outside plus will give you a detailed report including all the sales within half a mile, all the inventory, etc. 

Depending on the situation, the mechanics of this may be simple or complicated.No probate proceedings are required to sell real property if the real property is an asset wholly owned by a trust.

Some municipalities that don't require a given license also don't have a clear mechanism for issuing said license.  

home seller, where you don't buy it but offer to do a mild rehab, let's say a house that needs updating, MILD REHAB, "grandma's house", Say Arv is 200,000, needs 20,000 in work, I like probate houses for this, the heirs want quick solution.Offer this to the seller, Mr Seller, we will do a joint venture, I'll come in with my money and do the rehab, pay the workers pay materials, then will use my agent to sell, pay the commissions and the closing costs, and then when the house sells I'll get a check for what it cost to do the rehab, and I'll charge joint venture fee, and that fee depends on a few factors.The mechanics are buy it sub2 or a note w no payments, own itGet private IRA loan for the $20KPlace guaranteed profit JV agreement for you and the sellerThen improve it - list it at 97% of comps with a high producing agent - work with agent on improvements as far as what buyers want."

That's about as low as I ever got, as I won't typically do a rehab that's not a full cosmetic renovation.But, once you start adding in things like new mechanicals, new windows, etc., the numbers increase.Here was a typical rehab I was doing in Atlanta a few years ago -- if you check out the bulk of my first 30 or so deals, many of the budgets were similar to this:http://www.123flip.com/house-22-budget-recap/

It's a little strange but banks will have different rules and finding one that fits you will be sort of like finding the right shoe, or barber, or mechanic.  

Valves are just like any other mechanical device and it can wear out over time.

They understand it is to insure that all mechanicals are operating properly, no mold, no dripping taps or leaking drains, smoke detector functioning properly, etc.The fact that I also inspect for any tenant damage is a secondary issue.I have a lot of money invested in all my properties and place my priorities above any tenant that has the opinion that since they pay rent the landlord should stay the h*ll out. 

schedule a showing.. ask to see  2 or 3 apartment, and mechanical s..