There was a house built on the land in the late 60s, but it was demolished a few years ago because of foundation issues attributed to the underlying soil.The Township says that they know there are "soil issues" with the property, but they won't say how they know this.

@Gabe Gordon, looks like a healthy cash flowing property!

Things like fungus damage of the subfloor, support posts in the crawlspace in soil contact, hairline cracks, and (scariest to me) no foundation on a portion of the structure though majority is pier and block.  

Keep in mind some things won't show themselves for awhile, a house usually gives up most of it's ghosts in a 1 year cycle, this allows it to go through the seasonal changes of moisture, expansion and contraction and tear itself apart where it needs to, tile floors will show cracked grout within a year, letting you know they weren't installed with proper underlayments, drywall will crack at doors and windows showing the house movement do to soil getting wet and drying out where it shouldn't, the basement will get wet showing you where the freeze thaw is effecting it, paint in bathrooms will show mold in a year showing you that the flipper didn't vent exhaust fans properly and the list will go on and on... 

Our family is very healthy, 

Darryl,Really good stuff here I own a few multi family properties in and around Boston its good to see that the lending environment is still relatively healthy!

Whether for mental, physical, or spiritual health; I want to make sure that they will have happiness in their lives.

A couple of thoughts - - make sure you have enough for not only down payment/closing costs but also a healthy reserve as well as money needed for potential renovations that might be needed to "force" the appreciation as you mentioned- if you are talking about 2-4 unit MFR, that really shouldn't be any more complex to figure out as a first timer than a SFR if you are planning to self manage - if you are talking about 5+ unit MFR, it might make sense to factor into your numbers having property management services (probably good to factor in regardless), especially if you have a 9-5 job- with the 5+ unit MRF scenario, I wouldn't necessarily be afraid of the financing as so many people seem to be, as like you mentioned they are more going to be evaluated based on how they run as a business. 

As 88% of all households still want to own a home, as they do, they are pumping millions into the retail sector, as they purchase furniture, lawn mowers, trash cans, dishes, etc. to outfit and maintain their homes.As someone in the trenches daily, I can tell you that the market still feels healthy to me.

There will be conflict, but are you guys able to deal with it in a healthy way?