Hey Michael, I have 12-doors in Detroit and happy to share my insurance agent's info as well as a local broker I know that works with a lot of investors. 

Location - Jacksonville, FL (unfortunately, no basements!)

And, even if you could find an appraiser to do an evaluation, it's not clear how that would help you.As you state, the motel has been shut down for nearly three years, so there's no current financial data.But even if you had recent numbers, you're planning to operate it as a sober living facility, which I suspect is a very different business model.You need to find a comparable facility in or near your local market and develop your own customized financial analysis model based upon this particular property.Then, given your business objectives (cash flow and cash-on-cash return, I assume), you'll need to back into what purchase terms you'll need to achieve those objectives.Only then will you be able to determine whether these seller financing terms will work.As far as documentation to get started, a letter of intent (LOI) is commonly used but you might move straight to a purchase and sale agreement, particularly if no agent is involved.Whichever path you choose, just be certain to give yourself plenty of time to thoroughly perform your due-diligence.

So short of a pandemic wiping out a chunk of our local population or something else of that magnitude, there is not really much that can change these circumstances driving supply and demand.And without changing the circumstances, the results will be the same.

Local networking is a great boost!! 

My wife will materially participate in the business and I'll provide the financial backing.I've talked to a couple local CPAs and done a fair bit of internet searching on legal entity setup for my situation, but haven't been able to get a straight answer.

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(there was no issues with the roof) I decided to just switch carriers and used a local insurance broker in town.  

In Florida, can a newly licensed RE agent (not a Realtor and not yet working for a broker)  join  MLS independently  or do they have to join a local board or  the NAR first?

Working with the local police department as the first building was on the problem properties list, and actively working with neighbors and the neighborhood.