So it's really a pretty low risk scenario, and may not even be permanent if I turn it into a rental and go back to renting myself.Grant's ideas work for me since I don't like to be permanently anchored to anything or saddled with debt and big mortgage payments on an asset that produces no income, so I think it's solid advice for some people.

But what I am looking for is an economic anchor in the area

DO NOT buy just to buy marginal to loser deals where the debt is an anchor you have to hold for years or decades before you can get out from under it and invest again.If you make 50k a year at  a job and save up 30k over 3 years then you can't make a big mistake with your first purchase.

Real Estate valuation is an anchor point that set's a basis for rental rates, because of the obvious factor that "Larry the Landlord" will not buy a property at $1,800 and accept rents at $1,600.

Look for those along main commercial corridors or adjacent to a grocery anchored strip.

That way you have an "anchor" property that is paid off that you know will provide positive cashflow and can snowball payments to other properties to pay them down, etc. 

I have seen some cases where you can buy a strip center and the Dollar Store serves as a mini-anchor.

... and by 89% in comparison to rents.Australia and Canada share the dubious prestige of having housing prices the most out of alignment with the rest of their economies.The Economist, "Global Housing Markets: Property Puzzles"CBC, Canadian Housing Prices 35% Over ValuedCBC, Analysis: Overvalued Home Prices Could Put New Owners at RiskThe only good news from the perspective of the Atlantic Provinces is we've been the anchor on Canada's housing price to family income ratio for the past decade - without our representation, the Economist would be reporting an even higher percentage of over valuation.  

As far as the foundation wall, I've seen various methods like wall anchors etc. and I haven't yet seen any system that I would say is satisfactory.

Spoke with the owner by phone and he indicated that he had several wall anchors installed in the basement a few years ago to fix bowed walls.