Regarding #1, I would actually see instead of doing the physical work yourself (or in addition to), see if you can find a female real estate investor in your area who would be willing to have you shadow them for a while. 

I mistakenly bought a house in chester, pa. through a auction that had extensive fire damage for about $2200.

I could go max out my friends/family/crowdfunding options, but that probably wouldn't get me much beyond 20-30%...Anyhow, let me know if I'm missing something in terms of a strategy that might appeal to this seller.Thanks,-Orion HI Orion,As long as the roofer will give you a roof cert showing it will "certify," for now that will be sufficient but usually the roof is not an issue unless it is announce via written statements on the appraisal or  disclosed by the seller through the seller disclosure statement.As for the decking unless its visibly dry rotted with an indication of extreme termite damage that might have spread to the structure of the home you should be fine with a bit of deck damage but it depends on the extent you're referring to.When you refer to the siding, how much damage are you talking about to the siding?

There was too much structural damge as well as cosmetic damage.  

Once everything in a property is fixed, you don't have to worry about repairs that much anymore until the next bad tenant come along and causes damages. 

Spreadsheets will tell you what to do from there.As for the PM....yeah i'd replace them too.        45k investment plus maybe 5k in damage/treatment isn't a horrible deal.   

The previous owner used it for illicit activities, and was a general menace to the rest of the owners and tenants.The bulk of the work is in the bathroom, with water damage to the sub-floor, and a bathtub shower combo which was full of mold/mildew.

The risks I can think of are theft, vandalism, damage during construction, injury to a worker.

That's the minimum acceptable condition of the property that HUD requires before they allow the lender to convey the home over to HUD and pay the (mortgage insurance) claim.A lender may have their field contractor go out to get the property ICC only to have it vandalized, stripped, etc, then they have to get new bids and fix new damages.

These are important, because you need to protect your investment from further damage.