At the end of it all, I could be wasting 5, 6, 10 years.I do not have systems in place for short term so that seems to be the longest shot considering the lack of upside.I am not liable for capital gains on this property so that’s the biggest draw as well as freeing up the capital.

Just make sure you're not wasting their time or they probably won't work with you for very long.The other way to do it, is to fire off tons of lowball offers and see which ones come back to you with counter-offers/accepts. 

It is good to have tenants pay for their utilities as they may care more about waste but all things being equal - a tenant is only going to pay $XXX a month for rent. 

I feel like this would greatly effect who comes in the door but these properties are very affordable ranging from 105000-160000 and if it’s good to invest here I could potentially buy multi down the road.

Identifying lenders is basically a waste of time until you have a property under contract, ditto for interviewing attorneys, accountants, etc.

There is no time to waste.

Estimated ARV: 673kSeller’s Asking: 575kEstimated Repair: 30kMy question is does this seem like a waste of time because no one has put the property under contract, it’s been listed twice, and the seller is firm on his asking price, and it has been for sale off market for a few months now?

However, it’s basically wasted space at this point and is about 1000 sf or maybe more.

But what long term effect does this have for banks and then those that have to report earnings with more and more dead beat properties on their books?

I am sure in your lease somewhere it says that the security deposit cannot be used for the last months rent or something to that effect.