I think offering them 50% of the excess amt will give them the incentive to sign the purchase and sales agreementAs far as I know double closings are not legal in Canada and again I want full disclosure with sellers.

I really like your pov @Ned CareyI think what it really boils down to is disclosure disclosure disclosure.

Full disclosure - I borrowed money from a friend for the option, earnest and inspections and after closing paid her back plus 10%. 

I prefer full disclosure, but that's just me.Or, you could set up searches in Realtor.com and other public facing sites to monitor what price points are in what neighborhoods, how quickly they go under contract, etc. 

The amount an investor will pay depends on a lot of things:- Location- Type of contractor used- Type of house- Level of finish- Time of year- Negotiating ability- Volume of business the investor does- Etc...Without factoring in all those things, there's no way to know what it will cost for YOU specifically.That said, BP does have a great book (disclosure:  I'm the author) that details the methodology for creating a Scope of Work and using it to generate accurate rehab estimates ("The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs"). 

Other options include real estate rent tracking software such as Kitt (disclosure I work there). 

Full disclosure: I am just a Lender and my wife is just an all around good person.I posed this question to my wife and her response was how many other units are rented?

As former real estate investors my husband and I always did full disclosure.

You do need to have them sign the proper disclosures as well as an authorization to release information.From there, you will need to have them agther all the items necessary in a short sale packet.You should check with your state laws on foreclosure assistance.

I seem to recall its right on the deeds... there is a disclosure about this. and I suspect you need to be pretty careful how and if you do these ..