Even if the homeowner that was foreclosed on didn't intentionally damage the property upon leaving, you have to consider that if they didn't have the money to pay their mortgage (which is why they lost the house), then they didn't have money for routine maintenance and repairs either.

The net sale amount is computed by taking your gross sale price of $215,000 and then subtracting your routine and permissible selling expenses, which generally include your broker's commission, owner's title insurance premium, escrow/closing attorney fees, recording fees, exchange fees, etc.  

The landlords before us didn't have a clue about management and routine maintenance.

For example, if you have a rental property in a place where temperatures routinely go below freezing in the winter, does your lease include a requirement that the tenant needs to keep the furnace / heat on and at a minimum temperature?

Say I bought my property for 400k.I sell it for 500k which gives me a cap gain of 100k (after I minus the routine selling expenses such as broker's commission, title charges, escrow fees, recording fees, exchange fees, etc).Does my replacement property need to be equal or greater than 500k (sales price) or 100k (cap gain)?

Properties routinely stay on the market here for a year-plus.

If the seller constructed the units on your property, then I assume some sort of building plans would have to have been submitted to the appropriate authorities in the city, and in that case you should try to examine the building plans to see if the plans for connecting the sanitary waste were followed.One investor I know is considering adding video camera inspection of sewer lines to his normal routine pre-purchase inspections, so that he can identify in advance a big ticket problem for just a few hundred dollars up front.

Any wholesalers out there willing to share what there day-to-day routine looks like?

If this were me, I would HIRE a process server, I routinely get one for about 50 bucks..then you have an impartial person to sign the notice as served . 

If you have a busy 9-5 routine but have the money to get started and don't have enough time, turnkey companies provide some of the best resources to scale your portfolio.