Not to mention the flatness of TX.

He sold a house in Sacramento with fat equity and bought a number of rental properties with the proceeds;  midwest properties with 50 years of flat line growth, that all have great cash flow. 

Or you can use floor patch to fill in valleys.Slopes that are continual are generally not a problem; if the floor is flat but unlevel the flooring doesn't care, assuming the slope all runs to one direction; if you have multiple slopes in different directions that will be a problem.

It was demolished and now we have a flat lot.

It was demolished and now we have a flat lot.

The listing agent flat out told me he didn't and wouldn't present the offer. 2nd I discovered I was allowed to do so but not to negotiate.

@Russell Brazil that makes sense in your case that you are bringing yourself to market standard for properties that are off market or offer basically no commission but for OP's situation where the agent seems to be charging a flat $495 fee for something, I've never heard of that, because they don't know what will be bought yet and if it offers a proper commission. 

Work on single-family homes — the bulk of the housing market — was flat.

Flat, even floor - floating luxury vinyl planksUneven floor that cannot easily be corrected - adhesive vinyl planks.

I know the tax pros here bill based on hourly fees, levels of like packaged service, flat rate fees.