Has the agent spoken to the builders in the area who may need lots?

They have no problem with in ground pools.

Did you pay cash for this house so there’s no loan to pay off when you gift him the house?

This happening in 05 to 08 and there were builders with 50 to 200 specs and they lost them all I bid on a 100 home package in 08 the houses were selling for 225k to 250k in 06 ish and we were in contract for 120k each..

If they take an extra four days to vacate, that's $800 in holdover charges.

In similar boat, have been denied by 5-6 carriers.  

I generally dont do sewer scopes unless there are trees in between the house and sewer line in the street. 

As far as estimating costs , every house is different .

However, most people wait at least 6-12 months just in case the IRS doesn't question it.

i didn't even know auctions gave opportunities to actually have access to properties beforehand.Given your line of work, i would say that you are uniquely positioned to work well in the outlined situation.