Appreciate the responses.My envision of more involved is in the aspect of getting into deeper rehabs.

@Alexander FeliceSFR, especially if it is your primary residence are difficult decisions, and thus what I call emotional decisions.

Buying/selling on emotion is for suckers.

It is important to remember that most owners of rundown and distressed properties have emotional ties to their homes.

However, once a GC dug deeper for a bid, discovered stucco issues made worse by lead paint, potential roof issues, electrical upgrades needed to at least the panel and connection from street, and added the cost of plaster and lathe demo as opposed to drywall, the rehab estimate came out to $85-90k.

Which might be a good example of trying not to be emotional about this stuff. 

Few thoughts are:1) Aggressive action plan for seller outreach2) Deeper relationships as the surface deals are not as present

After all, the numbers have to make sense and we are usually not emotional about it, but are there anything that we can bind the sellers before attorney review is over?

JIm you have obviously note been out to the high deserts of the west.. towns are 50 to 100 miles apart or farther in many instances.. there are only dirt roads if any roads.. and there is no utls.. wells can be 1000 feet deep or deeper and well who wants to live in the middle of no where .. nearest shopping could be 30 to minutes to an hour or more.. etc etc. 

Do not make any emotional decisions.