If door number 3 looks good to you then drive on and I hope that works out for you.The beauty of option 1 is you are not out any money upfront and you've capped your risk to 3K, if the seller bites and initiates the work and opens a can of worms, the seller still own the risk. 

America is big and beautiful with ample cities choices to choose from!

looking to finish a 18x12 shed on a concrete pad..it will have plenty of electricity ..finished drywall walls and ceiling...windows..beautiful matching outside finish...this will be in Cotswold neighborhood.. it will have heating and air conditioning...no plumbing no bathroom.. 

Sometimes I wonder why I ever left Bend, but as awesome and beautiful as it was, the opportunities were just not there. 

And Bloomington is beautiful, BTW. 

I'm also a Tennessee native, and I admit this is some of the prettiest county in beautiful state (I may be a little biased).

It turned out beautiful and the new family is very happy with their new home.

Is there a maximum monthly pet rent that I can charge in Sacramento, CA.  I want to charge $40 monthly.
I am using Zillow for the first time to create a Lease for a property in Sacramento, CA.
While I like that Zill...

We are buying a beautiful 80 year old home in a historic neighborhood of Baton Rouge, LA.

There is a beautiful and deep reference to this entire subject of how to choose and work with contractors in David Greene's book Long Distance Real Estate Investing.