There has also been a decrease in lumber prices which should help builders mitigate cost pressures.Now is the time to build and look for full guts that need everything done.

I'm not sure how to mitigate this concern though without seeing a full P/L sheet from the current owner.

If the results come back above a certain number, then they're asking the sellers to put in a radon mitigation system.

If I incorporate risk in my model from the start, I can mitigate the risk with cashflow and location.  

To try and mitigate some of the costs, I'm looking for an economical (read: cheap) demo/clean-out company to just remove all the flooring in the property. 

All kinds of stuff.What you are trying to do is mitigate risk as a buyer to give you the least risk with the most upside.Maybe a small fruit or market stand could go there.No legal advice given.

Ideally (i know things don't always go ideally) maintenance would be mitigated by initial repair. 

But that is a risk you can mitigate  by being conservative in your refinancing projections and assuming a higher rate.

If you can find a property here that cash flows from the start your risk is mitigated-- there's a lot of people foregoing that cash flow because the factors I mentioned above have people so confident in Austin that they're willing to withstand negative cash flow for an appreciation play.

We’ve all heard the IDEAL metaphor.I-income from the rentsD- Depreciation (ensures we pay little to no tax on the income)E-Equity as your renters pay off your loanA-appreciation in the right market your property should appreciate over timeL-Leverage( the ability to gain a return on 3-5 times of my original investment)Using leverage gives you the opportunity to diversify, instead of all my cash in one property I can spread that cash out on 3-5 properties which mitigates my risk.