At first, he never responded to the suit though it had been delivered, and I continued moving the process forward, filing for summary judgement.Late in the process, long after his deadlines to respond had passed, he hired a small time tenant attorney to intervene.

Assuming the property owner isn't playing games, why would an independent appraiser inflate the value? 

I’ve had 2-3 buyers interested in Lakewood and Edgewater areas continuously over the last 1 1/2 yrs so have spent a lot of time looking at properties in these areas- here are a few additional observations:The numbers on renovated full size Lakewood two family don’t match most investors criteria (greater than 7% ROI).  

So it isn't a complete waste, you would simply need to follow the strict reading of the law with no private clauses for consideration...I'm not sure how that plays out since technically if the lease is void, so is the tenancy meaning you could terminate anytime and not wait for the original lease expiration...I'm sure that's covered somewhere, but again I'd ask my local atty what to do given this is such a locally specific issue. 

If the agent provides value that you see being worth the money, continue business as usual.

I personally dont know where title insurance comes into play with these either if your not recording a debt instrument and then getting a lenders Alta

If you're young, sounds like a good house to continue holding.

The crimes occurred starting when he was 16 and continued through 28.

Find a mentor, continue education, analyze potential deals, and build a team of professionals.Good luck!

You could go into NJ (although the cost to play is high in Northern, but the rents can be very nice), or you could bypass and head into PA near Delaware Water Gap and get low taxes and good renter options.