If I was a betting man, he may have sensed you were trying to treat the loan as commercial versus residential.  

i cant even begin to respond to that.You have the property pending, good for you, if the guy is a great credit risk and has at least 20% down i bet it will appraise. how about this we have an independent appraiser chosen at random appraise it, if the appraisal comes in lower than 30k you apologize publicly for your misleading website and pay for the appraisal, if it comes in over 30k I will apologize publicly and pay for it.  

One of my great long-term real estate bets counts on them cleaning up the inner-city beaches. ;)

Seems regulation always wins ...

A small addition costs more per square foot than a large addition.Your best bet would be to find a couple projects in the neighborhood you want to do it in and hunt down the people that did them and see what it cost them and then back into the cost per square foot.

If I bid on that home and win, are the liens  expunged so to speak or would I be on the hook for them?

Finding private money will probably be your best bet. 

Check the laws and bet on the opportunity.

It's a win-win for both parties involved.

I suppose when the owner of the website tells you to introduce yourself in the New Member Introductions forum you do it (I had no chance winning that frame I suppose @Joshua Dorkin)I am an accidental landlord from the Richmond, VA area.