You need to check underneath to see what kind of state the insulation under the floor is in; it is also difficult, costly and awkward to repair.

Rather, it's about getting some solid education underneath you, fine-tuning your deal analysis skills, and then taking what I call SMART ACTION.

@Jay Styles I would only tackel a mobile home if it included the land underneath it. 

Most roof's that need a total tear off have cedar shake underneath the shingles, that is not uncommon at all.

He is a strong believer in hardwood floors, and wants to convert all of those areas into that; actually, he says that his contractor looked under the existing carpet and says there is a beautiful hardwood floor underneath that rug, that would be lovely once they cleaned it up and refinished it (it has been carpeted for at least the past 50 years). 

Not only was the carpet soiled, but the baseboard and walls were too. 

As a general statement for anyone reading this thread, larger pieces of land can be tough to "wholesale" since developers need long feasibility periods to do their due diligence on soils/geotechnical, environmental, utility availability/capacity, zoning, etc, etc, but they can certainly be brokered if you team up with a savvy agent who knows land. 

So I just don't know what to do, I'm thinking I need to tear them out but I'm concerned about what I'll find underneath in such a old house.I've tried a few simple fixes but I'm not getting good results:A) talc powder - didn't seem to help at all and filled in the lines between with white powder which locked ridiculous.B) Break away squeak fix screws, I haven't been able to get them to break I think I'm hitting the joist but not 100% sure, but even if I were I don't think I could fix every squeak and if I were ableto find the joist and consistently use these screws they'd have to be nearly every everywhere.The worst area is the living room which is only about 300 sq feet.

However my understanding is also that creating a company on foreign soil would be an alternative.

Same with piers that are needed on the interior....but only if it's a "pier and beam" foundation - if they can crawl underneath the home.