And you better do it before stuff hits the fan, like it did in my life" What's wrong with this message?

Most people won't reply after the 1st "touch", but if you hit them a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. time, your response rate will go up.So, to answer your question, I think your best bet is to continue to hit up those same 350 people.

Should I take the big hit now and get out of it ASAP, or keep the ~$200/month loss for a while longer and see if I can maybe at least break even later on down the road?

A couple questions i have are:Is there anyone around the fort wayne/ northern indiana area that would guide me through to start?

Then I finally took the attitude that you can't get a hit if you don't swing the bat.So know I run the figures, calculate the repair costs and my desired return.

As much as you want to hit the ground running which i commend you for take some time to slow down.

Natalie Kasak you hit the nail on the head..

I would hit them hard these people are usually very motivated to sell, the condition of the property means you can ask less for the property, Due to work, and unknowns and just explain that to the home owner.

One business day before we were supposed to close they hit us with a 30 day extension because they said they were missing the "proof of foreclosure" document.

It REALLY doesn't seem appropriate to hit the landlord/owner so hard for the actions of a tenant.