Another nice tool was a battery operated metal skill saw.( I have a bosch 18v) 2 of the roofs had hips..

That's a powerful thing.I'd start working on your personal finances first.

Our hypothesis is bank turned the power off months ago, sump pump stopped running, water from heavy rains we have been getting has just been building and sitting over time, possibly 1-2 months.

I also don't know if the water / power are metered separately - I plan to drive by today and look for meters.Now that I know I have time to secure funding, it boils down to getting the pre-approvals done and deciding on what I'd bid.So to update my back-of-the-napkin conservative numbers:Rents:  $3900 / mo or $46,800 / yr assuming fully rented which isn't hard here.Expenses: Lawn care ($400 /mo during summer, or $2800 / yr est. 

Tenant will not allow us in to use water to power wash deck. 

Even if your first rental breaks even (on paper), and you buy a single family home instead of a duplex, that still leaves you with buying power of about $2378/month.  [$3500 - $1122 = $2378]You can play around with a mortgage calculator to get an idea of price range. 

This essentially gives you the power of a cash offer to the seller.

Yes I agree I understand the power of the BRRRR method which is why I would rather do that then just buy something nicer and have to put 20-25%  down. 

We had half circuit of the stove trip which due to still having 120v looked like it still had power.  

I think that what you are trying to do is spot on, minimizing (or negating) your housing expense in order to bolster your saving and investing power.