The Midwest is a large geographic region and each state, county, city, and even neighborhood will hold different risks and rewards.With that said, my general observation is that many jurisdictions have very high property taxes (I’ve seen this personally in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan).

I do the things I have comfort levels with , and I Hire contractors, and observe and learn .I'm building a shop right now for my tools and work trucks , hired a concrete contractor he has shown me so much stuff I didn't even think about, I am very glad I hired him.I though well, frame it up and pour, he shows up with lazer levels, puts a lip on it so water wont enter my building, bevels doorways, wire and shale , visqueen , , under concrete so it wont sweat, gas powered finishersThat's the best money I have spent in a long time.

. But I appreciate your observation and will be cautious.

The riff version was "When you obtain information/observe a situation, you can choose to accept it, ignore it, or change it, but you will make one of those choices."

My only two observations are:We need to make choices based on the concrete opportunities in front of us, not on theoretical opportunities. 

i would call the police about that and have him taken to the hospital for that 24 to 48 hour observation . 

Interview the neighbors and see if any of them observed him taking in bags of concrete.

However, we did have to contend with the COVID-19 Pandemic...Once under contract and observing the COVID-19 impacts unfold, our team considered finding a way to mitigate the property vacancy as a contingency to continue with closing.

My quick and easy comment without a lot of math(actually no math) is just a casual life observation. 

I totally agree that we are not usually as smart as we think we are.. in a prolonged growing market like we have had it is so easy to believe we are geniuses rather than to observe the big impact that the strong market around us is having on our success.