Patience can be your best friend and if you attempt to over leverage a property it can come back to hurt you.Some will recommend buying subject 2 where you could take over an existing mortgage that could be at a substantially lower rate - but if the lender finds out and calls the loan that could also be very bad.

It can be good when everything is clicking, but it can also be horribly bad...and dangerous when you end up with a problem occupant.

They are not bad people.

This would be a very bad idea in California.

In fact, if you find something in Sac that looks good, reach out to me please.....Your credit isn't great but it's not bad either.

they probably have a bunch of 3% nonconforming loans on their balance sheet so 5.5% is not bad, totally reliable payments, plus in a legal battle they'd likely find the power of attorney didn't extend to the ridiculous term and that there was no breach of any enforceable agreement.   

My expectation is that they won't pay it, or ignore it altogether.Lastly, if they are actually able to prove your home was in such bad condition that it was uninhabitable, they may have a leg to stand on for early termination/abandonment.

It won't tell you which property to buy, but will help you weed out the bad ones.

It sounds like you have a bad pm if they are ignoring when you are trying to contact them. 

No one should be treated badly.