Land prices range from $2-12 per square foot here.

They normally do price drops every 30 days or so.

Does the bank proceed like a normal foreclosure and send a NOD to the seller who still is on the loan even though title has transferred?

And how much above normal rent can you usually charge for a lease option?  

I have asked them enough questions that were basically answered that it is more of an informal subcontractor type bidding (they are just bidding the subs) and pretty much they want the bidder to assemble the material, on that case, that is why I am asking here if it is normal with developers in the residential industry.

It's only contingent on me liking the property well enough after my inspection, but I'm also hesitant to give the seller any non-refundable money when all I want is a few days to conduct a normal due diligence inspection.

We got a normal bank loan/mortgage for a primary residence and fixed the property up, moved in lived for a while and sold.

It would bring down the cost per square foot dramatically  so I think I could add about 30k  to the sale price  easily .  

I'm not going to be the victim, and if the shoes were on the other foot, I guarantee they'd be after me like nothing else.

Multi-family properties are the best for buy and hold in Bakersfield because the price per square foot is lower then a comparable single family home (so they are cheaper to purchase) but you end up getting a lot more rental income because instead of collecting $1000/month on an average sized house, you collect three monthly rents of $700/month for an average sized unit in a triplex.