I have seen several houses on the MLS listed for around 50k with minimal work needed though I assume they are on the rougher side of town.

It used to be Cozy.co before the parent company of apartments.com purchased them.I would not waste money on security systems. 

The time period is negotiable, agents do this to not waste your time or theirs.

By working in different geographic areas you can help minimize this risk and will be able to exit those properties at different times for additional capital as macro or micro economic changes will have different impacts to different markets. 

Message never got to the cryer of the sale so they cried it and you bid and won.. dont waste money on an attorney you will just get your dough back and go find another. 

The property is currently developed to its highest and best use with minimal value-add opportunities as the property has been well maintained and operated efficiently.

Do you try to furnish MTR really nice or do you try to stay minimal and functional?

We converted the detached garage into a 2 bedroom rental to "house-hack" and minimize our living expenses in this expensive part of the Bay Area.

When I saw it, my agent convinced me that it would be a stellar starting investment property because, as you can see from the interior photos, the property would have needed minimal work and we could have gotten it rented right away...or so I thought.

If you are using financing or HM, they will schedule it right away, but the seller is probably just wanting a cash offer and wants to seal up the mortgage contingency before wasting the time.