I would like to offer the development company that I will move the house for the cost of half the demolition cost they were going to pay (how do I find out how much they are paying?).

I would like to start single family houses to invest my area and 30 miles around. 

I will also chip in where i can.See you around the forums,Miles S.

I had one property that I acquired in 2008...it was in receivership and I paid half of what the previous owner paid.  

well it depends. if you want to use the brrrr method then the first option may be best for the refinance bit. however with a single family home you will take a bigger hit if they move out where as with the duplex if one moves out you still have half your income. theres pros and cons of both.

In Ontario they take half a months rent for commission I believe (could be wrong about this).In terms of moving the tenants in and out for an out of province property I'd consider installing a lock with a passcode you can change digitally, that way it's as if you have a permanent lock box on at all times & you can ensure security by changing the code from time to time. 

This is for half of a duplex.Asking price: $75,000Offer: $75,000 (Yes, I offered what they were asking because there was a lot of competition and their asking price was way under market value)ARV: ~$110,000Down payment: $15,000Rehab: $5,000Closing Costs: $2,000Total out of pocket: $22,000Rent: $1,000Total monthly income: $1,000Expenses:Mortgage: $313 ($60k @ 4.75%)Taxes: $100Insurance: $80Flood ins: $0HOA: $0Maintenance: $100 (10%)Capex: $100 (10%)Management: 0$ (I will self-manage)Vacancy Allowance: $50 (5%)Total Expenses: $749NOI = income - expenses = $1,000 - $749 = $251/month cash flow.Wealth gain = ARV - mortgage balance - down payment - rehab - closing costs = $110k - $60k - $15k - $5k - $2k = $28,000CoC = 13.7%So, to me this seems like a really good deal and I'm worried I'm missing something because it almost seems too good to be true.

The thing is the applicant is from over 130 miles away so he must be starting a new job.

Architecture is a commodity easily outsourced and the other two skills value erodes with every mile your project distances from your presence.The question is passive or are you wanting to do something together? 

If you raised your list to 1000 you could quite possibly pay half of what you had proposed.