These boxes are sold on Amazon, and I can pay to have them shipped to him.

Maybe selling is an idea worth considering if the house is a Mona Lisa and kind of beyond the general reality of typical tenant's maintenance obligation and ability, and they aren't paying for the additional quality.If you really want to keep the home, you may find a way to be very happy about it with the right team, whether it be property management, electricians, contractors, or tenants.

One would think that a bidder would pay $45,000 in my example (since they are assuming the first mortgage), but they are actually bidding $225,000.

If you are nearby, if you have ever been a pizza delivery person, maybe deliver a pizza to the wrong house that may or may not be the one being foreclosed on so atleast you can see inside a small portion. we used to just go knock on the door some folks would actually let you look around.

It takes a couple of calls to schedule, then they pay the invoice.

It's amazing how cheap it can get when you're paying physical cash and having your contractor pick it up at the warehouse.

They pay for it. 

Within a few years, I was able to pay back every penny I owed my family.

Meaning that if you fund a $5K EMD and then decide not to close you lose the EMD, or you pay for an inspection up front and risk missing out on the deal while you're waiting for the report.

Pay attention to 99% of the posts on Bigger Pockets, most folks here have very little money.