The only place I have seen these is in bad parts of town where prostitutes used these by the hour rooms.

Hi, Lincoln Towning?

I know nothing about your taxes, but I can tell you that a lot of Canadian investors are flocking to my town of Pittsburgh.

I'm seeing deals daily in the MLS, so they are out there, and of course if you pick a part of town that is likely to have a high rental or low income market, you should be able to farm the hell out of it and pick up some off-market deals. :-)

so..Ive worked hard, and lived out of town for 6-7 years. 

If your budget is 600K max, it sounds more like a condo/town home budget suggest you go elsewhere.

My investors and I are studying a raw land (30+ acres) with mixed-use zoning in a densely populated town. 

If you haven't bought in that part of town before, utilities can vary wildly so be sure to check how much the property has costs for utilities over the past year or so.

I was driving into town this weekend to look at a property for sale and I saw another house with an over grown yard, and a paper taped to the door.

So while its a PITA, the inspection actually helps you as a buyer because you know up-front exactly what the town wants you to do.