I don't believe he is a member of this forum, but he does great, detailed, and well thought out work, and has been in the game a long time.  

Who would not want a legal, permitted unit for $8k or anywhere close to that (i believe the $8k is likely optimistic)?  

I found the deal sitting on the market for 21 days which believe or not is a long time for the area.

I believe the better value currently is finding a home that needs cosmetic repairs and allowing the PM to handle those and get the place rented out as someone else stated.

Do you personally believe it's best to invest in C/C+ locations in Columbus over Cincy or Cleveland?

I believe they changed the guidelines years ago on the amount of seller assist you can receive on an FHA loan, so I’d look into that with your mortgage company before making an offer, but definitely use that to your advantage when writing an offer!

i believe charlotte is around the US median.the reason i mentioned house hacking was because you mentioned an FHA loan. 

As an investor, I don't believe in ever paying retail.

It will be work doing something you believe in with odds of success with the outcome.Any avenue takes work because the top 10% in any field that are very good at what they do tend to make the most money.

I would wonder if the previous owner owed them money and they dont believe ownership changed.