You can have a couple yoga mats and some light weights in the house if you feel it would add to the guest experience. 

For the house to be vacant for almost a year, I think she must not be well or be under some kind of stress, so I feel like by coming in and offering the right kind of deal, I would be benefitting her and myself at the same time.How would you guys approach this situation?

I feel like I am being lied to or manipulated for being young.

Usually these properties present the most opportunity though because you can quickly bring them up to par and rent them out for market rents (expediting your stabilization period) as opposed to waiting for turns to fix up and fill units.

We get offers accepted while they are LOWER than the competition because we are credible "they just have a better feeling about us".And why not?

That brings me to my next point: The area you should start investing in depends very much on what your investi g goal is, so: Define your goal.

Get a feel for the Size ($) of the discussion from the LLC or Non profit standpoint.

If you are need of a good reliable contractor please feel free to reach out to me.

Both construction and eventual casino I would imagine bring more people to the area. 

LVP in the living areas and hallways just feels way better.