In that circumstance the borrower would qualify for a conventional residential mortgage. 

@Joe Ehren Foreclosure/Pre-foreclosure listings, as you may already know, tend to have highly motivated sellers because of their difficult circumstances.

What's a good rule of thumb for establishing a security deposit rate under these circumstances? 

Or perhaps another investor had plans to rehab it but circumstances changed and he needs to get out fast.

Off market is great, but build inspection/finance contingencies into your offer just in case there’s a hidden lien or unforeseen repairs that would show up.

Perhaps they are the wave of the future, but in our circumstance they weren't right for the following reasons 1) the cost would have been about double of what we've paid for traditional forced air systems; 2) it would have required too much unsightly hardware and line sets all over the outside of the building; 3)they are designed for better insulated construction than this era of building provides. - We decided not to replace the existing boilers with high efficiency modulating condensing boilers.  

Final regulations provide limited guidance, but IRS gives a safe harbor.The new tax break applies to qualified business income from a trade or business.The final regs continue to refer to the standard under federal tax code Section 162,the statute that generally governs the deductibility of trade or business expenses.Unfortunately, this standard is somewhat unclear in the context of a rental activity.That’s because it’s based on facts and circumstances specific to each taxpayer.Among the relevant factors: Type of property leased (commercial or residential),extent of day-to-day involvement by the lessor or the lessor’s agents, lease terms,number of properties rented and other ancillary services provided under the lease.The safe harbor applies if at least 250 hours are devoted to the rental activityby the property owner, employees or independent contractors in a year.

I’m currently living in The Woodlands, TX (slightly north of Houston) and there’s quite a few Harvey houses on the market that have been gutted and have a pretty low asking price but could probably be gotten for even cheaper in some circumstances.

It's based on facts and circumstances, not whim.

There are plenty of opportunities to continue itemizing depending on your specific facts and circumstances.