I agree with @Anthony Hurlburt , I would tread carefully here as it could be twisted to appear as an unfair practice by Fair Housing laws.

And then, in another twist, we made an arrangement with the builder for my husband to actually be the project manager for the new build on the vacant lot.

I don't know what the surface is but if the parking lot develops potholes and someone steps in it (twists their ankle, breaks their leg, etc.) good luck dealing with lawsuit.  

Thanks for your help @Brett Goldsmith and @Ryan LeeOfcourse there is a twist - the current short sellers (current occupants) want to stay on and rent the place for 3 months due to medical issues and pay below market rent. would love everyones thoughts on how to approach this.

.- I have used the above with a different twist..  

A good wholesaler doesn't go to a decent house, twist the owners arm into a 50% offer, and then weasel out of the contract.

But if he came to me with such a plan - essentially gambling with MY retirement - I'd kindly but gently tell him to think of something else.You're asking him to take a HUGE risk on deals you don't even have identified yet - and hope like hell that you can turn 3 deals at $36,000 each in a year.You're just now getting started, so you have NO track record.  

She was very private about such matters when we were in the service, in fact she never even retorted when my husband and I would poke gentle fun at her for driving a ridiculous hoopty and shopping at thrift stores, but she's definitely getting the last laugh now.$50,000 in five years assumes a private entering at the lowest rank possible and not enjoying any special pays for things such as deployments or Airborne status.

Sometimes gentle persuasion works.

While I tend to agree with you all that it was a decent deal, let me add a plot twist that I probably should have included in the original post..Back in July I used this realtor to purchase a lot for the construction of my primary residence.