Everyone means everyone, we had this discussion before with Charles, our resident CPA (I like to call him) so, to your attorney, your CPA, to you butcher if you buy that much meat for your sales meetings and your auto mechanic if you get your company car fixed and deduct expenses.

Say $326,457, closing in 60 days. 2) Seller-carry with $x down at market rates, $X per month headache-free cashflow $342,187 closing in 21 days. 3) Master lease with option to buy, 30 or 60 month term, $x per month, taking care of management and first $300 of repair expenses: $351,324, closing in 14 days.I do not understand the mechanics of how #2 or #3 would work.

Ping me if you want any details, I'm in the process of doing this myself and have spent a fair amount of time researching the right mechanisms to get it done.

In addition to the above suggestions, I would talk to the town's individual building inspectors (mechanical, plumbing, electric, etc.) and get their opinions on what contractors are active in the area, which ones tend to pass inspection without incident and which ones have caused them issues in the past.And to follow up on Bill's comment.

Fear is natural..and in most cases a defense mechanism.

Equating someone's major with their earning potential, especially having the private sector as the mechanism,  will almost certainly lead to a decrease in overall human capital.

Long story short, the place is completely clapped out, and needs a pile of work on the outside/mechanicals, and the price reflects it.  

(Cheap flooring fixes can result in hidden dangers)Mechanicals - have they been updated?  

No keys or other mechanisms (chains) that require multiple movements to exit in case of an emergency. 

They will catch all sorts of small issues before they become big ones and can extend the life of your mechanical systems for many  years.