Stick to making decisions from the numbers.You will never feel completely ready but educate yourself and then jump in.Advocate for yourself and your interest in the deal. 

Hi All, My husband and I were under contract on a Virginia home -inspection, appraisal, financing all ready to purchase- then found out that the seller's mortgages + judgments came to more than our purchase price of $76k.

Point out the lease does not indicate AC and that the rental rate is reasonable in the area for units not having AC.You are not being a jerk and the fact that they may or may not be good tenants is irrelevant to the issue unless you are ready to pony up and install central AC. 

I responded with an apology, promise that they would promptly receive the check (it had actually been ready to go for over a week, but our schedules never lined up for me to give it to them, and our neighborhood has seen mail and package theft), but I also included a list of things I wanted them to fix.

I've done quite a bit of reading and research, and though I will continue to do so, I DO feel that at this point the only thing that is going to actually further my knowledge or get me going is real life, hands on experience...So I'm ready to bypass any more "feet wetting" and simply dive in!!

I do want my mother to be paid, but I am not ready to buy the house until a year from now. 

Is it even possible to have a new renter ready to move in day 1?  

I turn away money all the time, I just say I'll let them know the next time I'm ready to do a big deal.

And we have 4 units move in ready that will hopefully be occupied by next month.

I’ve been working with a company while gettIng my property rent ready but have held off signing a contract due to a few concerns.