If the people who had the land contract are not findable, there are was to provide notice and still commence the action.

(Bought the house and made a 20k flip profit)Public records are amazing: if you locate the area where the seller lives, make sure you look them up in their counties property appraiser, and clerk of court/register of deeds.Examples of places you can find them:If they pulled a permit on a house the notice of commencement may include their phone number.If they were in a lawsuit and represented themselves, most forms will include a phone number.If they were a landlord and did an eviction, the 3 day notice or complaint will usually have their phone number.There are quite a few areas the info will show up in public records.Social media is the hands down best way to locate people.I have found more people through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn then I can tell you.My favorite example is where I located the owner of an abandoned home on Facebook.

A few thoughts :-If the listing agreement has not commenced or the agent is instructed to do so, the property would not or should not be in MLS and the agent would be in no way obligated to cooperate with your agent or any buyer/agent. 

Obviously we wouldn't want to commence rehab work until we know for sure if we can get the variance, but any ballpark ideas on the timeframe, weeks?  

The work would be fully supervised by a licensed broker in the area.When this deal is completed and sold we would commence another deal for more profit.

I am 51 and still remember what Steve Jobs said in his Stanford Commencement Speech (2005): Until you find something you love doing, do not settle (I am paraphrasing him).

All payments made by Tenant to Landlordafter the tenancy commences, no matter how designated by Tenant, will beapplied as follows: first, to any outstanding amounts due for damages/repairs,utilities etc.; second, to any outstanding service charges and fees from priormonths; third, to any rent outstanding from prior months; fourth, to anyservice charges or fees due in the current month; and lastly to the currentmonth’s rent."  

Even after work has commenced, this was debated between the architect, electrician, and supplier, so how would I know that off the top of my head going into this?

Since relocating to College Station, my Austin Commence National Bank Lender referred me to Mike McBerty at the local Commerce Bank Office. 

I'd suggest you bring this out before commencing any contract.