This time I decided to explain this obvious scenario prior to the official offer/contract; thus rewarding the owner with $100 of my money for the offer, then paying for the inspection. 

It is the old risk reward model.  

In CA leads can not be rewarded with a commission because the person is not a realtor.

Even though the paper loss hurt, I continued to buy during the downturn and have been rewarded quite nicely. 

I've done a lot of research, the potential seems very rewarding.

You need to be licensed , the contract has to contain certain wording by law , And by law I can get 33% when I sign the contract .Investing is about risk , those who take the risk reap the rewards .

Current market rents appear to be higher than the 5% cap that his lease extension allows so it would be financially rewarding.

Two months ago, the Board decided to get into the charitable business.

YUP  I could have flipped this plat to DR for a quick 1 mil profit but we decided to build it out and that brought us an additional million plus in profit .. of course you have risk reward.. flipping to DR takes all the risk out.. but we were and are confident in this market and price points.. the over million market is slowing a lot of PDX or taking a breather as I like to say.. but the 350 to 500k is still robust and that's where we play

Proverbs 9:17 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.Good job brother