I now have ABSOLUTELY no fear of crawling underneath a 2 story 1900's house and having to exhale to fit under a floor joist.

Most REO sellers will not turn on or allow water to be turned on, or allow repairs for appraisals or before closing, most secondary market loans require all utilities to be on at time of appraisal, minimum 5 years or more roof life left, no holes in walls or flooring larger than a quarter,  or significantly soiled flooring, walls, ect. 

That means they have a wood frame underneath versus the metal frame and they are typically built with 2X6's versus 2X4's.

If the grade of the soil in any part of the building is toward the house you will have the same issue.

I recently had to remove a pair of "soiled" adult underwear (I'll spare the details) from the exterior my property.

I was hoping you'd chime in.The additional reason 3) costs so much is because (according to the engineer), in order for it to be code compliant I will need to add an additional bracing wall underneath the house parallel the short side.

I was told there could be a water pipe leak underneath.

I too thought about whether he's hiding something but I spoke to the current property manager and he says it's always been a MF property so the chance of underground tanks or soil contamination is quite low, isn't it? 

., soil tests, and DOT have green-lighted a minor subdivision, with a major to follow, for a total of six parcels.

They may be fine now, but in the summer the heat gets through the first layer of shingles and the second layer will eventually curl, causing flat pockets of water to form that will eventually leak down through and destroy the sheathing and the rafters/drywall underneath.