Money Mustache Blog for interesting ways to save. 

. $7.00 for a gallon of milk here.

Unfortunately, response was pretty solid with "I'd rather kill the cow than milk it for months." so I think that option is off the table for this seller.  

The next hurdle is that you won't actually be able to find out if the VA will go for it until the VA appraisal done & back, and the answer may very well be "no" depending on if the VA appraiser's breakfast cereal had sour milk in it or not.

The prior owner (and this is far too often the case) has not replaced the major components of the property (either milking it as a landlord or putting it off as an owner).Then we have a "hot potato" where they sell (and often reap some appreciation) without updating the property or putting money into it.

Go look at Mr Money Mustache (if you haven't found him already) and be prepared to lose another healthy chunk of your day reading and digesting his stuff.  

Chris pretty sure we met at the Wednesday Night Club a couple months ago, remember the handlebar mustache? 

Sometimes you $170k can't all be active in deals because of tax payments.Some people prefer to make money in real estate without having to wrangle contractors or fix toilets or get milked dry by property managers.

(Compare that to $7.00 a gal for milk).

It's like you wanna buy a bottle of Altadena milk, and you hesitate between calling Altadena or buying the bottle at Trader Joes.