(except for one spot in the living room... might have some trouble there and need to patch.) 

I have used Patch of Land and they were easy to deal with.

There are also crowdfunding websites like RealtyMogul, Patch of Land, FundRise, etc that allow accredited investors to participate passively in deals they underwrite.Once you figure that out, you can determine your next step.

Cutting small holes on interior walls and patching back seems easy compared to wall stripping to the studs.

By vacant and distressed looking I mean the grass is tall, over grown bushes and trees, house needs paint or siding repairs, gutters falling off the house (seen a lot of those lately), broken or boarded up windows, old ugly roof or roof with a lot of random patches, etc.

If you want him to look at something, it'll have to happen when he happens to be in our area for a real job.But I've seen him solve an appraisal-introduced "this house needs a new roof, period" problem with less than <$400 in fees for an inspection, patch, and 3 year warranty. 

When I used to grade lots we would look for the greenest patch of grass in the yard.

I have the same roofer coming out to look at it on Tuesday and hopefully it's just a patch job.

Most seem to have patched up here and there and painted.

Not hard to patch back You say you have a crawl space under ALL the property?