I hoe to get a lot of advice and criticism good or bad.

Have no clue what it entails to sell or price the house, have super crocodile bath breath, have no idea what upgrades are worth, have no clue what items of their house brings value and what items do not, and what items actually reduce value (a crappy pool, a desperately needed to be torn down shed) etc. etc.Although motivated sellers, they are in many aspects worse than a blind targeted lead where you have to argue and debate trying to convince them their house is really not all that!

One really tricky aspect comes into play with partials. 

The only people who think, or at least say that any aspect of real estate investing is simple, easy, requires little capital, without risk, can be done part time, or requires minimal education, experience, and talent, are people who are newbies or gurus selling the newbies mentoring services.  

This is a critically important distinction because there are no houses for "pennies on the dollar" in Metro Detroit but there are plenty in Detroit. 

Brief follow up on response from contractor regarding some aspects of this potential project.

Someone posted a story about that on BP where a tenant moved out and then claimed her credit card was stolen and the landlord was out several months' rent.There are horror stories in every aspect of real estate. 

I would recommend making a list of all the aspects important to the acquisition of the property and the management of the property. 

It is very detailed and covers every aspect of the process.

@Omar JohnsonIn addition to the financial aspect think about the risk and personal peace of mind factors also.