Hard to believe as almost all banks employ field service companies to verify and enforce that the property is secure until closing.

Is it to generate a phone call or draw out motivation?  

Buying in a down market can be great when the area has a strong economic base & good employment.  

The 401k is actually my husband's under his current employer.

So in your example, if you purchase the property at 320k can you generate at least $3,200 in rent?

I employ a handyman and have a small network of tradepersons.

When I get a qualified applicant, my main focus is on confirming employment and salary, checking references and talking to previous landlords.

I am self-employed, and even though I have a sparkly credit rating and plenty of savings to make the cut, meeting the underwriters' requests turned into an extra part-time job for several weeks.

A lot of people use Adwords and craigslist to generate and drive "instant" traffic to the site.

If you aren't already filing a Schedule C then you need to determine if it's worth tracking the expenses you are asking about if there is no self-employment income that you can offset.