Hey Ali,Sloped floors are typically from either the foundation settling or beams/joists damage.

I've been couch surfing (read: bumming) the last year when I am back in the states, and I am incredibly grateful to my kind friends and family, but I can't tell you how old this is getting for all involved.So I decided to settle a bit for now, and find a reasonable home to live in that allows me to easily cover the mortgage, and at the same time continue to save more, and look for another property to buy and hold.

I haven't set my focus in the areas to invest in yet but I will be looking into the nearby markets such upstate NY, NJ and PA, once I settle my mind in this transitioning period. 

I imagine you can send them to collections for a portion of whatever term they didn't stay (only the time lost before you find another tenant), but isn't this always a huge headache that you wind up settling for pennies on the dollar if you get anything at all?

Settle the terms.

I wouldn't settle on the front-end if you're investing from overseas... too many variables that will turn this one sour for you quickly. 

It's given me a great 6 month runway to save like crazy, get settled in my new job and spend lots of time learning about real estate and talking with every landlord who will take my call. 

I would expect at lest a month perhaps 2 months or more before you cold settle.

My wife and I went back and forth as to how much to borrow against it and I'm a conservative kind of guy and we settled on the $60K ($100K total mortgage).

It would show up during the title search, and the sellers need to decide if they want to settle/sell or move on.