My guess is that if you sold it off-market to a private party it would matter less, but then you'd have less exposure of course.The biggest issue I've noticed about properties where the zoning is odd/unusual/not what you'd expect based on the current usage, is that often they are in very not-great areas.For example, the property you're talking about, would not surprise me if it's on a short street and next to or across from an abandoned / boarded-up factory, railroad tracks, etc. and all the properties on that short street are either vacant or in rough shape.I'm not just being pessimistic, I've researched a lot of properties and the few times these zoning mismatches pop up, seems more often than not to be a situation like that.So to me the issue isn't the zoning per se, it's that the zoning itself is an indicator of something else that's less desirable about the property, such as what's around it.The Providence zoning code is online and in the Industrial Districts section defines Light Industrial (M-1) as: "The M-1 light industrial district is intended for light industrial and office park uses that accommodate a variety of manufacturing, assembly, storage of durable goods, and related activities provided that they do not pose toxic, explosive or environmental hazard in the city."

A lipstick job is going to be a lot easier to manage than underpinning a foundation.Remember if you haven't done this before (or even if you have):  things will take longer than expected, things you didn't expect ($$) will pop up, contractors may lie to you, you may not understand the market as well as you thought, etc.

Then it's pretty simple from there to throw down some flooring, pop in a vanity and a toilet and you're done.  

My suggestion would be to either prevent people who have X number of posts or less from posting on a thread inactive for a certain time period, or have a "Pop-up" box telling them the thread is X months/years old, and are they sure they really want to post? 

In Airbnb and VRBO, there is a setting where you can indicate minimum stay requirements so when people are looking for the >30 days your listing pops up.  

So when I say experience, I don't necessarily mean someone who's done your exact deal before, I mean someone who's experienced in dealing with those wrinkles that inevitably pop up.

I just type in the address and everything pops up.

Good idea; firstling that pops in my mind is the transportation costs....? 

Look at everything that pops up and what they have sold for.

Maybe try searching BP for the keyword "auction" and see what pops up.