The catch is that they need to be similar to your target property.  

I try to catch them at home to say hello in person as well.  

Sure it's more than laminate, but one hot pan/pot on the laminate and you might be replacing it quick.I can't see the photos on my phone, but if you upgrade anything that will take abuse, and the HVAC, windows and roof are in good shape, you might be able to renovate in that $15k budget.

But here's the catch, compare to getting almost nothing from rental in China, 2500 USD/month from the duplex which is almost 13500 RMB/month, is a great income for Chinese investor.

This will let you know exactly what is totally owed to the bank and what amount you can pay to catch up the payments if you are doing a sub-to.You can also have the seller fill out a release of information authorization, send that to the bank and you can call the bank and ask them for the payoff and reinstatement amounts yourself.

The catch is you would have to live there for a year.

Note investing and Flips really are catching my attention but I think Buy and Hold is another one.  

But once you see your efforts pay off, others will not be able to catch up with you.

You could wait for the market to catch up to you, but that might take a very long time given the numbers you mentioned (I don't know your market so you'd have to figure that out).

Let's catch up sometime.