That may make the negative cash flow a little more negative technically, but if it cuts your overall costs it may help.

The fact that you are divorced means you can technically force a sale of that house.

Currently have a BA in Technical Theatre.

If the property was acquired with the intent to buy, rehab/fix and then sell (flip), it technically does not qualify for 1031 Exchange treatment. 

While my financing is technically a loan, being that I have the money in an account and am able to cut a check immediately, would I still be able to purchase a "cash-only" foreclosure?

Otherwise technically they are financed offers.

I said that I would be willing to spend some money on specific improvements they would need (I'm guessing about $200k in build-out) but their only caveat is they can't technically sign a lease with me until the improvements are done, and they also cannot put up a non-refundable deposit.

A lot of them end up just being the types that find their deals on the MLS (which technically are not their deals) then simply forward them to you.

In my opinion the major setbacks you are going to hit will be:- Size of your lot (DCRA typically requires at least 900sf per unit you want to build- but there are some ways around this-- this is not 900sf of living space, but land)- Your Zoning (if it's R-4 then you're in pretty good shape with regards to being able to build a pop up and as John said if there are properties in your neighborhood with a popup, which Columbia heights has an abundance of, then Precedence really helps)- Extending the back of the house will be difficult as would underpinning the basement to deepen it- not so much because of zoning requirements, but more from a cost and technical implication as it's always a pain when you mess with the foundation of these old houses.If you want to talk about it more in-depth shoot me a message and I'd be more than happy to discuss further

. -- we were offering $21k and the seller owed $50k, so according to technical fine print it's possible he could be liable at some point in the future for a part of the $29k difference.