Do not get carry away; just trying to win.

If so, your best bets down here are auctions, wholesalers, or off MLS deals. 

That's puzzle piece number 1.Puzzle piece number 2 in the 1031 exchange is your reinvestment requirements - in this case you sold for 500K so you must buy for 500K.Puzzle piece #3 is that you netted after mortgage pay off 100K in cash - So you must use all 100K in the next purchase or purchases.So now just run the scenarios - your potential tax bill in CA on 100K of profit could easily be  30,000 or more.If you do a 1031 and buy for 500K and use all 100K in cash then you would pay no tax.If you do a 1031 and buy for 400K then the IRS perceives that as taking 100K in profit called boot (yes you might say that it is a return of capital or whatever but they have nuclear weapons and you don't so their interpretation wins).  

A true win-win.As a real estate broker, my favorite thing to do and my market niche is working with real estate investors.

What are win-win options to look at discussing with motivated seller?

Great win to share with the community here!

We do a lot of work in flood zones and from what I've heard regarding "stilts"(we call them pilings) is you're looking at 20-30k extra over a traditional slab with a crawl space....Most of our footings are within a couple feet of sea level so we've never needed pilings but if you're indeed that deep you defintiely can't pour a footing on top of muck.....The other concern is flood insurance - the lower your first floor elevation the higher the flood insurance - I'd imagine if your first floor is under 10' the insurance would be astronomical.....your best bet is to talk to an engineer, get a survey, and go from there.

Susan, your best bet is simply going to those chinese pre-fabricated cabinets.

.- If she stays around a while before she moves and rent from me, she has a handy person with a vested interest just a few houses down to repair anything, ASAP.So it can be a win-win.I haven't approached her about it yet. 

I want to figure out how to go about this deal and walk away with a win for the both of us.