I would guess the homes you are looking at are at least 20 years old, which means the waterproof coating (if any) applied to the exterior of the block walls before being backfilled with dirt has deteriorated, allowing moisture to penetrate to the interior.

No need to beat around the bush or sugar coat it.

That with a well done coat of paint make a real difference.

I'm dating myself but I still think Invest In Debt by Jimmy Napier, Calculator Power by John Richards, Street Wise Seller Financing by Eddie Speed, and Smart Trust Deed Investing by George Coats are cornerstones of note buyers.  

Patience then two coats of urethane.

I replaced the floor with thicker materials (hardiebacker between tile and underneath sub floors. there are two layers of plywood so I used screw to fasten them again).

Lexan (not plexiglass which is too brittle) sheet over each reachable window and door Lexan is the same material used for bullet proof windows but for that use it has to be much thicker than what we need.  

Taxes are high at $10,900 - we are confident we can get them reduced through a tax appeal but are not coating on that for the deal to work.  

Insurance quoted 1 coat of paint for the room.

At the same time, my community is flush with the 'old farmers' who no longer farm and are on welfare trying desperately to live out the few remaining years they have in run down homes they haven't been able to maintain for years.I'm still working out the details of my business plan, and alot depends on the right piece of property coming up but I figure I can probably get something for under 100K$ that only needs esthetic remodeling i.e. new floors, coat of paint, siding and perhaps bathroom fixtures that would only put me into it for 15K$ at the very most.