We pay approximately $500/month to live in a 4/2 25 minutes west of NYC in what is considered one of the top towns in NJ.

However the deals I have done there were really easy to diligence because I know the town, and I now have a great property manager who keeps finding me neat deals (he also shoots down a lot so I know he is honest). 

how long are you going to be in town?

Also you could find a stable smaller town where there is a stocks of small multis.

Two reasons come to mind:1) As a last resort after exploring a 1031 exchange, I would sell to get the cash to finance other deals.2) Retire to go traveling and don't want to deal with the tenants and bills.  

I located a run down property that is on a very large lot in the center of town n a profitable neighborhood.

Here in RI , in some towns, it can matter if you are allowed to  rebuild. 

She took the sellers word on the size- they said it's what the house's size was reported at during the last appraisal, though she never confirmed it by viewing the appraisal.We want to address the large disparity in sq. ft. prior to closing, but our realtor has indicated she's out of town until Saturday.  

Cloud, Minnesota and would love to hear of any networking Opportunities to explore in the area.

Most have already tried to find a way to remedy the foreclosure by working with the bank, tried Mofiication Gurus, explored bankruptcy, and even shortsales.