For a few hundred bucks, hotel & air fare... you can immerse yourself in a pool of hundreds of sophisticated and accredited investors.Step #2- Follow up with all the people you met and strengthen the relationship you started. 

What i'm wondering is if it makes sense to try to negotiate the cost of DEMO against the value of the property - my plan is to sink a few thousand bucks and a few weeks of work into the house and live in it while working on the site plan and building out the second house for my parents. 

Worst he can say is no, offer him 500 bucks and see what he says. 

If you don't live in your rental and your purchasing as a rental, it's big bucks to hack this..   

With my wife itching to return to her home state (She's from Bucks County) its becoming more and more of a possibility will be relocating to the area from Tarrytown, NY very soon. 

If tenants are paying, I'd think you would only be out a few hundred bucks each year (per above), at worst.Assuming rents as-is ($900 for 3BRs, maybe $700 for the 2BR), your gross monthly rents (at 100% occupancy) are still 2% of the purchase price.

Offer 200 or 300 bucks for them to hand over the keys.

@Rigo V.I agree with @Brian Pulaski, but will add that if the property is a full, down-to-the-studs gut, I'd be more comfortable skipping it.Either way, it's only a few hundred bucks. 

I’m afraid I’ll end up stressing about saving a few bucks only to end up with delays that will slow the process of getting my units finished, rented and profitable.

Since I also had to replace the existing windows and I'll never be able to rent this place for big bucks in the location it's in, it made sense to go with all-white everything.