The end goal is to have a piece of land with multiple houses: one for my growing family but also a home for my mother in law.My mother in law has agreed to foot the money on a new property/land up front and when ready we can buy land from her to build/develop etc. 

I would say it's more of a scam to offer a seller <70% on a property that needs $5k in material repairs  and flip it for 125% without stepping foot in the property.

If it was me...I'd check with zoning to find out how many dwelling units I could build, and I'd find what the requirements are for those units (type of house, height and setback restrictions, etc.).Then I'd find out what local builders think the cost to construct would be - just get a cost estimate per square foot for 2 or 3 different levels of finish.

She said she has had to pay out-of-pocket for exterminators and plumbers after getting no response to pest and leaky-pipe complaints to RAD’s property managers.Another tenant of a Mendenhall-led fund, Terry Golden, 41, said he has been dealing for about a year with a flooded basement that his property managers have neglected to repair at his 880-square-foot home in West Philadelphia’s Haddington section.His living and dining rooms are piled high with belongings he’d previously been storing in the basement: furniture, appliances, trophies from his days coaching little-league football.

Just need to stat under the occupancy limit.Also keep in mind basement needs to be livable square footage, ie have egress and proper ceiling height. 

The foundation was already approved, permitted and finaled years ago for a 3400 sf house, and its solid and I won't be building directly on the overhang edge; but rather back away from the edge a few feet to prevent any load issues all the weight will be on the longer sides of the existing footing.

You must get a permit, drill holes in the bottom, demo the bondbeam down a foot or so, and then fill with compaction inspections along the way..... last time I checked it was about $10,000

But that's the 50k-foot perspective.I am local to you in CT - Middletown born and raised!

Find Brandon's videos on YouTube for the "four square" method of analyzing homes and practice.

It goes over your floorboards.2. use small tiles (1 inch square or smaller) for the floor surface.