Or did they just have the funds in the bank to cut a check?

But I've also had something going on in my personal life that have brought me down a couple of days after Christmas... and That's also when I basically made a decision of cutting down my usual social events and fully focus on RE for now.

With a PM in place you will have to pay them their cut and to go back to the second part if you end up buying in a lower class area you will be getting a lot of turn around it’s just the way it is.

Also the outside will need the shrubs to bet cut, a good power washing, etc.  

It's not like HGTV when a scene cuts and now the floors, and plumbing are magically finished.

Many sellers are having to make huge price cuts to sell flips and/or new construction, so be careful there.With your buying criteria, Daytona area is still a great market with strong numbers. 

However it would not be something clear-cut, so it comes with risks, restrictions, and it certainly requires a much deeper conversation than we can entertain on this forum. 

We can do some of the legwork ourselves to cut cost - we have flipped houses and built two new homes before but we had the misfortune of starting in 2005 and ending very abruptly in 2008. 

Almost no body told us about Root barrier, which are simple digging  about 2-3 into the ground, near your foundation to cut invasive  tree roots. 

Or do we just cut our losses and keep her deposit?