We've got a ton of old housing stock here in Cleveland coupled with a high water table.

I've found that I enjoy a meal way better when we pick out another table to bless with a free meal from a stranger they'll never meet.  

Or at least I think that is how you read the NpV table?

Home prices are very high (its nearly impossible to buy $100K or less homes here) and the cost of a mortgage is very close to what a home could rent for, so cash flow positive is off the table. 

Here is a table I have put together from some data collected by PWC.

It's not 2007 any more, you can back out at any point, including at the closing table, and owe nothing to the lender.

What I bring to the table is my past success and the ability to help analyze and finance deals.

There is no cost to you as the buyer to use an agent, and the seller states he is willing to pay a fee to the buyer’s side (this is under the assumption of getting to the closing table).

Below is a table with my expected expenses, I intend on completing all the work myself other than the electrical panel and the asbestos flooring abatement.

Do what @Steve Vaughan mentioned I think that will take a lot of the risk and pressure to buy off the table.