You would think they would want to get a non-performing asset off their books immediately, but like @Troy Norwood said sometimes they sit for years without anything being done.  

Have non-refundable earnest money that keeps growing with contingencies in the original agreement and with each extension they ask for.Have a (right to continued marketing clause ) where you can kick out their offer if they do not perform.

I've returned to Canada after 20 years living and working in Asia, and not finding work an easy task. 

None of my properties do, and the capital tied up in them continues to perform just fine.That said, it's more difficult to find a property locally where the free cash flow is better than, say, the dividend income thrown off by investing in a Blue Chip dividend mutual fund.If you're looking at small Multifamily properties locally and want a first pass "rule," I suggest using a GRM target of 12-14 as a first screen, assuming you're looking for a property that will throw off free cash flow with a 70% leveraged mortgage.If you want to more than basic long term buy it and hold it, you can do it.  

I stumbled across a parcel of land that seemed to have potential, and I performed the requisite preliminary market demand and economic feasibility analysis.

You would first have to distinguish between performing and non-performing notes.  

Is it possible to buy a Bay Area house in this market and have it perform well as an investment?

If you don't bring money to a partnership then you need to bring the time.Time is putting it together, dealing with the problems, and performing all of the management tasks.

Just a plain old boring lease with a security deposit made, move-in date on the lease to be about 3-4 weeks after you intend to close on your new purchase.We can use rental income to offset PITI on your old house, fixing your DTI.After that lease is up, evaluate the performance of your old home as a rental property, and either keep or sell it at that point.

If people didn't see the returns or weren't happy with the tenant performance they wouldn't keep investing in Cleveland, wouldn't keep investing with us and would look for other options.