A lot of these properties I'm looking at, are mainly just outdated ( Fixtures, cabinets , older appliances ), needs carpet replaced, most have wall paper on the walls , needs an updated paint job both inside in out .So not really things that make it un-liveable , but just mainly need updated Which brings me to ......

Are there a ton of renovated properties or are they mostly selling far below replacement cost? 

The seller has agreed to let us out of the contract but does not agree that we should receive our earnest money back because he says he is able to bet everything damaged and stolen repaired and replaced before closing.   

Also, would have some concern that they say replacement cost of this property is 50% higher than their buying it for.

They are one of the higher maintenance items and seem to only last a few years before being loud, wobbly or needing replacement. 

I live in miami florida now and I moved for larger scale developments here because of the net migration but columbus ohio the economics allow for that. existing inventory has been tougher and at the pricing inc columbus you may as well build new because you can build new less than replacement costs in a lot of the markets downtown. it's about being in adjacent downtown neighborhoods where property values and rents are higher. land values are the biggest driver of how well you can buy land to develop followed by permitted uses or rezoning applications. 

This is just me, but I just stick to my property standard and fix or replace based on my property standard, regardless of the owner's financial condition.

I have about $10,000 to invest so if I replace HVAC I won’t have much left in the case I couldn’t get anyone in there or need other repairs done.

Title company pays off $450k note, QI holds your $550k that you’ll then use as a downpayment on replacement property or properties.

True, I never built anything more than a treehouse when I was eleven, but technically a treehouse is a house so…All I had to do was work with Honomobo to finalize the design, get architectural drawings, receive HOA approval, get a county building permit, get a driveway permit, clear trees for a build site, find a logging truck to take those trees to a lumber mill, find a mill, find someone to take the lumber from the mill to my house, dry the lumber, take a semester of woodworking to learn how to make furniture, engineer/permit/build a septic system, get a well permitted and drilled, install a well pump, learn what a pitless is, install a water line from the pump to the foundation, install a pressure tank, connect the house plumbing to the septic and pressure tank, get the the power company to permit and install a podium for power on site, run power to the foundation, connect the power to the house, engineer a foundation, excavate, get two different sized steel wet plates fabricated, pour said foundation with wet plates mounted all at the same elevation in twenty-five precise locations, hire a crane, hire rigger, hire a welder, build a retaining wall because the dropoff from house to ground level was higher than expected, insulate the crawl space on my own by watching a YouTube video to learn how to load .22 caliber cartridges into a ramstead gun and shoot two and a half inch nails through insulation board into my foundation, badger a supply company until they finally delivered the right insulation board, get them to take away the wrong insulation board they brought that was broken by the wind and scattered into pieces all over the property, find an illusive 3x3 foot crawlspace door, learn how to use a core drill to make a four and a half inch hole in my foundation to install a code required fan to vent the crawlspace that my engineer thought was a stupid requirement and failed to tell me about, figure out what the hell going on when the Honomobo project manager tells me the measurements you gave him of the now poured foundation are wrong, have a panic attack, review plans with engineer, realized the project manager was mistaken, scream into the void, get the last available short term rental license application that had a thirty-day expiration window to pass all inspections, coordinate all subcontractors needed on install day, check with the sheriff about parking semi-trucks on the road, rent a porta potty, rent a dumpster, have coffee and donuts for everyone, oversee the Honomobo install crew that didn’t need overseeing, pass a blower test, pass state inspection, pass septic inspection, build a wooden curb to cover protruding rebar for an unpoured patio, build a temporary front door landing that could theoretically be be permanent so as to pass final county inspection, get a certificate of occupancy, pass the county short term rental inspection on the very last day before it expired to get the very last available license so that I could rent the house to make money in order to no have immediately have to sell, pour the sidewalk and patio.