The University area is very good to invest in with decent returns and a safe bet

I think you best bet on a smaller sized multi-family in this case is to allow tenants to connect their own washer/dryer for a fee or just charge slightly more rent for the convenience rather than buy coin-op machines. 

There are two times of cheap neighborhoods, the ones that are in the path of progress that will appreciate with time (Gentrify) and those that will just be cash cows and not increase in value. 

I was managing a property that had the same thing happen, and the HOA was on the ball; however, the bad part was that they whole time the construction was in progress they had to stick to the city permitting process.

Houston is going to be your best bet at this point, New Orleans is really tight, deals are very hard to come by these days.

Betting its good old fashioned foundation damage.You will want to have not only an inspector take a look, but you might see if you can find a foundation company or structural engineer to check things out and get you a quote, because most inspectors will just tell you its a foundation issue and not provide any background on the scope.Foundation issues are common in Texas, every house you will come across will have issues to some extent.

The other day my uncle received a $1 bill in the mail from someone offering to buy his house --- I bet they used your Property Search feature to find him (100% equity, in a very desirable market of California, purchased back in the 80's).  

That last guy in the chain was super pissed at me when I pointed out 4 other people had offered me the same deal at progressively lower prices.

Another thing I'll add is that if you look at their tax returns, I'll bet you will see that she isn't paying taxes on a lot of her retirement income. 

It depends on where the damage is what you would be looking at for cost but everyone is hedging there bets by saying I can't see what id's in the walls.