If he's paid rent until the end of the month, utilities are still in his name and his stuff is there (is the fridge empty), I'd hold off.

They txt me a copy of the repair bill and tell me they can pay in full on the 10th when they get paid.

Your tenants should get free hotels paid for by insurance you should ask that as well.

Also, you should be focused on constuction lenders who offer best leverage (usually those who will capitalize interest reserve &  finance a portion of the soft costs), lower floors on the rate since most banks tie their construction debt pricing to the fed rate, perhaps offer lower or no pre-payment penalty if the property reaches the permanent financing phase of the loan product before you are able to refinance and low or no required depository relationship outside of the actual operating ccount.

DM me if you want to dive deeper or get pre-approved.  

A monthly savings of $527 that goes into your pocket.Plus, since the seller has already been paying for a couple of years, the principal has been paid down $15,000.So, you are “in” for about $15,000 and have all of these great benefits.

Or would I only be taxed for the equity which could be paid over 5 years?

I paid all cash for the property.

For anyone who may end up reading this, as a follow up, (1) auction.com ended up not requiring the full $2500 deposit, since my purchase was less than the deposit requirement. (2) It took about 2 months to get the deed, because CHASE had a pre-foreclosure on it at the time of the auction, and so they formally foreclosed and then eventually got the deed, which they then eventually signed over to me. 

Background:In the Class Action Complaint (linked below) the Judge accused the NAR of fixing prices and states, "For decades, home buyers across America have been unwittingly paying too much for, and receiving too little from, services offered to them by real estate agent members of NAR.Despite agent representations (which NAR permits and encourages) that such services do not cost home buyers anything, home buyers in fact pay a hefty cost for these services—namely,  supracompetitive commissions at levels fixed by the Defendants, which in turn lead to higher home prices paid by buyers...as part of their membership, brokers must also agree to follow NAR’s rules, practices, and guidelines.