But I have a sense that this may be a fair asking price.I would normally also probably go to things like rentometer, apartments.com, zillow, and not sure what other sites to see if what the listing says about $500/month is normal for that area.I'd probably then double-check to validate with the county website to verify taxes have been paid.And I would certainly want to touch base with the listing agent/owner to understand if they could supply a rent roll, utility costs, better understanding of who pays for what, how long the leases are good through, if any new CapEx-related equipment was purchased recently (or how old this stuff is).  

Thanks in advance for you help.Ps, asking is 144k, rent is 1775 total, tax ~3k, unsure on utilities, insurance probably ~45/month

Provide any references you think are helpful.....accountants, attorney's who specialize in real estate, local places to purchase materials, where to get discounts, etc. 

My primary lender is based in Florida so I would probably need to utilize a new lender for out of state transactions.

Yeah, I realize there is much less concern as long as materials are not being disturbed, but we would be doing renovations (see below).  

I would love to get this property as I see a lot of value add potential if I can eliminate some of the expenses from the utilities. 

(I would advise if the answer is yes to make sure no viscous breeds are allowed and also get an extra security deposit and possibly extra monthly rent.)Also, something that helped us that you might want to consider is for your credit check is that the score matters, but we look deeper than the score if there are things that come up (and in New Brit there are usually things that come up).If tenants are skipping out on "modern life essentials" like utility bills, cell phone bills, car payments that is a huge red flag.However, if it is a result of medical bills or student loans (or possibly a foreclosure during the crash) you may want to look past some of those.

(Not sure if the units are self metered or not - am I high or low on utilities?)

What I mean by this is that materials and finish quality is much lower than you might do it anywhere else.

It would be a good material to start with.