I wanted to try and talk with him to get a better idea of what he is selling and see if its worth my time to push forward. 

Pierce Cty & Snohomish Cty, will push your dollar much farther and prprty taxes will be at a lower rate than King Cty.  

We listed at 185, knowing we were pushing the limit, then cut to 175 after 18 days.

In general,newer is better.Unless you're talking about historical homes in special historical neighborhoods,a 70 year old home is gonna be worth more than the homes pushing 100 years that are probably long overdue for massive repairs and remodeling (new plumbing,rewire the electrics,new roof,water heaters,etc.

Not only does it make the house stink, but there's a lot of extra labor involved (i.e. washing/scrubbing walls) whenever it's time to repaint. 

Many landlords have reported that dog washing stations are the most used amenity in their building.

I have to be less conservative and try and push the value that it is actually worth.

You need to have an attorney with lots of experience doing these to assist you on your first one, then you can wash, rinse, repeat.  

Should I push the other owners to either start the HOA, or permanantly remove it?

We were also told that our offer was accepted because we were flexible with the closing date and could push it out as far as needed.