I know you guys need to a lot more info about the property, but as a ball park, what might be a good whole fee or equity percentage for a finders fee.

One more thing...now I am wondering what I should be doing first:1) Reach out to the seller first to get a feel for if he'll pay for the repair to see if he just immediately shoots me down on it.or 2) Contact a structural engineer first to get the ball rolling so I can have a more informed discussion with the seller on what needs to be doneI'm just wondering if I should be spending more money on this property before getting a better idea of whether or not this deal can go through.

To be fair one unit was in the process of evicting a tenant, however, they had dropped the ball on the eviction as well.Along with the owners, the 3 units were given a quick facelift, primarily consisting of paint, blinds and some new flooring.Yes, the demand is high.

If you improve the property, say you go from a regular property to a temperature control unit, this will allow you to increase the monthly rents and hence drive up your revenue.  

I know of five methods that, have varying %'s of success:1 - Crystal Ball = 20%2 - Ouija Board = 21%3 - Palm Reader = 22% +/-4 - Card Reader = 22 - 23%5 - Fortune Teller = 25% (but I think they're just more experienced at guessing)...or, you can just do a really good analysis...and hope for the best.

If I were you, id high ball everything , sounds like major damage to this house     maybe shoot for 60k rehab, high points on the hard money..... even if you buy cash at 30k +60k + hard money fees + closing costs ... you might be able to squeeze a 10 percent return out ..... if you have good contacts id say maybe It could work ... if you have only done this a couple times , maybe pass on this for something with a quicker turnaround time 

Life throws too many insane curve balls IMO for you to be worrying about all these other things.. just focus on buying your first house.. and then, after a year.. buy another!   

If they higher than yours or in the same ball park you're good. 

If you just want to own a large portfolio you can create some LLC's and hold the properties in those LLC's.If you want a property management companies with property managers and stuff like that then thats a whole different ball game. 

The cold temperatures can result in really high heating bills, especially if the windows are old, furnace is old and little insulation.