Maybe the current rules aren't the best (they assume that people with more money are more sophisticated, which may or may not be true).

There the story begins and it's a long story that is not yet done.If you suspect meth, you can do your own sampling and have the test run (costs about $75.

The only way to truly know if the house is priced appropriately is to run the nearby sales comps for similar homes (sqFt, features, updates, etc).

Taxes are HIGH and the cheap properties are literally run down to the point where a rehab would bring you way over without capital.

If you think you will go FHA, Conventional, 203k, etc. and then Quit Claim the property, to a LLC, or a Land Trust you run the risk of the lender discovering a Title Transfer occurred and activating the "Acceleration Clause" or "Due on Sale Clause" that requires the loan to be paid in full, within 'x' number of days.

I suspect this was not welcome by the person who runs it and I never saw those people back. 

You should run the numbers.

The upside if I end up keeping this property is it should be maintenance free for years with new roof, furnace, hot water tank, electrical completely re run, and plumbing.

Also, there is the crack running across the floor of the garage so there is a possibility the cement may have shifted down lower allowing water in.

I am brand new to this site and to Real Estate investing in general and I'm hitting the ground running.