One suggestion -- buy some tools to break down the demo debris a little better.

For these reasons I would get some quotes and tell the seller this is the best you found and that the garage has to be demoed before closing or no deal.

@Scott Demos The ultimate beginners guide and the podcasts I've read and have listened to almost all of them, and have been very informational.

Short of demo to the studs, is there any cost effective ways to eliminate the odor?

It may be that you can run errands and paperwork around on your bike for a local investor, help rehab and demo crews, help build excel models, who knows.

Especially on larger structures where the rehab costs would run considerably high. leaving no room for error or any unseen issues.Even some that could be demoed and a new home put onto the land, the numbers would have to be weighed out as to the market value and the location.

The land they are sitting on often isn't worth much and the expense to demo the structures and clear the land is a deal breaker.Re-sellers of tax sale properties are often wholesalers.

You may find there are significant labor hours associated with things that don't require any special skills, like demo. 

It also means that the mortgage is still intact and the property is unlikely to have much equity.Remember, banks got TARP money, made profits up the yen-yang (ironically with lots of Chinese money) and these properties are just a pain to remediate on a large scale basis. 

I am just over a month into this project and the first month was mostly design, architecture, hard bids, selection of subs, and selection of finish products (cabinetry, toilets, sinks, faucets, etc.).So you can get an idea of what this home looks like at purchase, here are a few before photos:And here are some photos during the demo stage:This last photo is the great room where we are framing in the open beam ceiling to allow for new can lights and new drywall.