To buy or not in Portland!!!!  

My best friend lives in Kingman with his mother.

.- The 203(k) will allow you to bid on properties that need repairs that won't qualify for a traditional mortgage => less competition => better purchase price.You will need to find a great local contractor you can trust to supply the required bids to qualify for the 203(k).- After closing, you can do some of the work yourself to save money, but the program doesn't allow you to pay yourself.You will want to buy a Class B property, maybe Class C+, in an area that seems to be improving.

Either way I wouldn't do one in your area that wasn't driven into the ground.

@Brian Dolbeare This is a "it depends" question for sure, but in most cases street parking is pretty common here.

Purchase price: $5,000,000 Cash invested: $1,450,000 Complete combination and gut of two lofts side by side resulting in a 4,000 square foot home.

Purchase price: $690,000 Cash invested: $172,500 Took a gamble on a larger single family home in an up and coming master planned community.

You are putting money in.

@Brian Stinson- I go between $2,500 and $5,000, but I'm in a different Midwest market so the pricing in probably different. 

As others advised, get a structural engineer in there to review the conditions.