I kept a soft communication and during a coffee meeting I provided real quotes from contractors.

Would love to take someone out for coffee!

We even made them a spreadsheet of all nearby properties and called landlords to see if they'd accept them (they had bad credit).

I know it has at least a 10k foundation issue...but it's a good piece of land in a desirable neighborhood with a silly growth curve (major teaching hospital being built nearby).

The public transportation system and the already amazing bike path network is also expanding so that is a good thing to look at to find neighborhoods that are likely to appreciate at a more rapid pace than others.The Colorado market has strong fundamentals overall: diverse and growing job market, active lifestyle, work-life balance, friendly people, the incredible mountains nearby, outdoor sports galore which is skyrocketing in popularity, access to national forests and parks, and significant population growth due to these many positives.

Lesson # 3 - have your act together and know who you will do business with before you leap into a purchase - you can network every week through meetings, your local realtors, old landlords who like to shoot the breeze over coffee.

What I would do is find an auction property nearby that you can flip.

If they are nearby I would go and visit and see if this property does not work maybe they have others they can offer you.

If you have anymore questions feel free to PM me or we could grab a coffee if your around Duluth!   

Once I find a couple potentials, I open up zillowdotcom and plug in those addresses to see what the nearby homes are listed as.