Don't give up, the bank is not human - they are machines - they don' care, they have no emotions, there is no one to negotiate with, they go home at 4pm, they can afford to keep the property until it falls apart.........GET AGGRESSIVE!

Each unit has a basic interior door connecting to the stairs and we hear everything from the tenant going up and down the steps to him cooking even his laundry machine sometimes.

Sometimes a good cleanup, a pressure wash, or even a coat of paint could be the difference between a sale or not.  

The liens on the property are washed when you purchase the property, correct?  

I do like the idea of card machines over coin but that may be more expensive for the card reader.

I could have went cheap and just dried/wash the carpet.  

In fact the one of the most successful RE investor I know is just a crazy guy who has a lot of balls and just bought when the local market dropped and works like a machine.

I have not has as good of luck with washing machines. 

Was he always a tenant-at-will or was he a squatter?

I suggest putting in at least 4 inches to cap your building and improve energy consumption, At the time of the tear off coordinate renting a blown insulation machine too and you can add insulation from the roof into the attic/crawl space above the ceiling level to avoid interior repairs.