And then sold it on owner financing to the new neighbor who thought it was part of their property. 

I definitely wouldn't sign a purchase agreement before seeing the property.

The city wants to tear the property and surrounding properties down Zillow said it’s worth 38000The city offer me 13000.I could use some adviceHard to give advice with limited information, but as a general rule, the longer you wait and the further down the line their project is the more valuable your property will be to them.Zillow (and all automatic online) estimates are very unreliable, so don't base on that.

The owner, a family member of one of our buyers, inherited the property through probate, but they weren’t equipped to handle the renovation.The house had been left in disrepair for quite some time, with the previous owner struggling with mental health issues.

New and in Oswego with one investment property. 

Especially since you are looking at properties that are already high value.

My father did this in Portland on two properties, for elderly people I think. 

@Dan AudinoFor path #1, is your eventual goal to rent out the property?

Can your property actually afford a 90% LTV loan at 8+%? 

Quote from @Zara Massoud: Your new PM is correct and the old ones were wrong.The property manager must have your social security or tax ID number on file.