I have a deal Im working on that falls below the $100k threshold and Id love to find a way to finance it without going through a traditional bank.

It's worth it if I missed out on replacing certain big-ticket items that a buyer might be worried about (ex.

in order for me to hire a property manager, i'd have to increase rents but i'm also concerned about any big ticket items. 

Often smaller operators add things that should really be CapEx as an expense item to help their taxes.Make sure the items under expenses are true expenses and not to be capitalized.Is the owner self managing and paying themselves?

Typically, if you want to write items off, you also need to recognize the revenue on your taxes (which you legally need to, but many people rent a room to a friend and pocket the cash).  

These seem like a way cheaper alternative to build on a plot of land and a good way to get cashflow by year 1 instead of going the traditional home construction route.

What are the pros and cons to this versus a traditional re-finance?

The European banks are traditionally a bit more "conservative" so we do have build up a solid investment case to maximize leverage.

@Scott Mac thank you very much for this. a few of these things i have not thought of. we are entering the due diligence phase and will definitely bring up these items. just curious, do you have any office spaces?

I figure that would handle 25% down and any and all closing items.