Making the "vision"/dream as easy as possible for the retail/non-sophisticated buyer may really open some opportunities.

Readily apparent good deals show up on the MLS from time to time, even in a hot market ... the key is speed to get your offer in fast and lock it up before your competition does.There are two other ways that I'm aware of to get good deals off the MLS, one which is unscrupulous IMO and the other that takes some vision.1)The unscrupulous way: you bid the property at or close to asking price, with no intention of closing at that price.

I have spent a lot of time recently listening to the BP podcasts, etc and I am thankful for the vision that Josh had to put this community together. 

Your best bet, IMO, is to work with the university to see if you can reach a unified vision for what this parcel will be.

I personally have a vision of where my real estate investment company is going to be in the future, so I'm developing a plan and path based off where I intend to be in the future.  

If you're going to flip it, tell them the vision for how you want to improve the units to get good families in there and take care of their former property the way it should be. 

Also, we can't build enough homes in outlying areas in that time frame to accommodate that vision.

My vision is also to turn the worst street into the best and this property is strategic in this plan.So at the end of the day, its a win win for me, my buyer and the revitalization of North Adams.  

I'm a "big picture" guy who has a vision and creates plans and goes after them with intensity. 

This leads us to the next question....What is your vision for the property?