I'm pressing on though.

Great press!

It's just bench mark or starting point. 

The only shot you really have in SoCal is appreciation, and we are so high in the market right now that even that could be pressed.

Assuming you are buying this as an investment property, and not an owner occupied rental, you will be hard pressed to find a traditional lender that will require less than 25% down if it is non owner occupied (if you do, let me know).

Bad press is normally a pretty strong motivator to get someone to get the work done. 

I'm not a huge expert on NY, but I think you may be hard-pressed to find cash-flowing rental properties even in the burbs.

I'm still a newbie at this, but trying to just press forward with talking to sellers even if I stumble through it.

Howdy Bigger Pockets.I've been wondering around the site for a few months trying to find some answers, which I have, but figured I better post up and hopefully get a bit of varied responses to my most pressing questions.  

If he is trying to blow himself up (you mentioned the gas) I would consider pressing charges for attempted arson.