But in spite of my "newness" lol.  

I frequently say that there are lots of different ways to make money in this business and if you read my posts, I have often praised @Ryan Mullin as an example of someone who does a good job and can be trusted in spite of the fact that we have very different models.

In spite of the long post, this  is not at all clear.  

None of those properties were bought for their finished basements but were bought in spite of the finished basements.I also "used to" own flood plain property but because of the inherent dangers and the ever growing costs of flood insurance,  I not looking to buy any more, even though there's a contrarian play there.

I can't convince my wife of 15 years to invest in spite of all of the good info.

Here is a link to the inspection report: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/105466347/insp...It's a really long list, and I don't expect folks here to read through it all.

In spite of getting a degree in business I got back in the construction business.  

In spite of the business degree I got I felt more comfortable doing construction related stuff.  

If you can't get a loan for a purchase through conventional means, anyone willing to lend money in spite of those deficiencies is only going to lend you money on the premise that you fail.

NIck - you are asking whether it makes sense to buy in spite of everything seeming inflated.