There is a saying; "to a hammer everything looks like a nail".

Trust in your research and yourself.Go where the deals are - foreclosures auction, all real estate auctions, tax sales and district  court, subscribe to certain publications in your community, be prepared do your comps, try to guess the hammer price at auction, see how close you get.

I recently removed porcelain tile I installed a few years ago, and whacked it hard with a hammer multiple times, and it would not crack. 

And that's true of the general contractor as well, that person who doesn't "push paperwork" for a living because they "swing a hammer." 

Housing is (more affordable) in areas of ("High Crime"--sometimes but not always), and higher unemployment.They should work on getting better paying jobs with fewer workers looking for work (supply/demand).I've seen houses for $2,500 located past the  7 mile area of Detroit for instance (Highland Park/Hamtramic area).Tons of people around there, but not so many want to spend their time swinging a hammer and doing a fix up, and they don't seem to be able to afford to pay workers to do the work--so the affordable houses just sit there.$2,500 is certainly affordable as far a house goes, just needs some sweat equity vs taxing those who have used credit responsibly.And you know they are more likely to lose the home to foreclosure with the lower credit rating and be right back in the same boat--no house renters.I think they need better paying jobs, much much better paying jobs, and to learn to live within their means.Just my 2 cents.

I am certain to be coming back to review your response over and over to hammer it into my head :)  Thank you so much for the education.

Not to mention saving on loan origination fee's and all those other fun filled fee's one get's hammered with from getting any kind of real estate financing. 

Yes, the GFC hammered the Oregon Coast.

@Joshua Ryan LindsayThis might have worked 5-6 years ago before the city put the hammer down on STRs.

I can 99% assure you there will be a lot of damage and hopefully just cosmetic and they don't take hammers to the dry wall or anything totally vindictive..