Working in a crawl space is difficullt work (height) in existing homes, I would attempt to get the stone in the crawl at least to the height that the water height has risen (2") and then put in your vapor barrier.

They can either choose to do a quick cash sale, or list it it as is in an attempt to get more money.

I attempted to lock the property in contract/agreement.

What I'm attempting to indicate in most areas this is a time cnsuming, costly project with engineering study requirements in most area.

Try and be as educated as possible on why this happened before attempting to sell, etc.

Of course you could always attempt to market directly to owners of property you're interested in.Also, there is no such thing as luck!

I have a contact for a colleague of his, who has attempted to contact his daughter, but the colleague hasn't been able to contact the contractor either.Any advice?

I have only ever attempted Delayed Finance with long-term rentals as typically the lender will want to see a long-term lease in place before they will refinance but perhaps some lenders will let you get away with doing short-term tenants.

Such program shall attempt, to the extent permitted by appropriations, to locate all premises in which the paint, plaster or other accessible structural material contains dangerous levels of lead. ... 

I've been following the advice I read on the blogs of listening to podcasts, reading books, and attempting to analyze deals.