I'm nervous that the owner might balk at the fee I'm earning and I can't afford to sue him right now and he doesn't have anything for me to get but equity anyway.

Lastly, the foundation guys and roofers I use are great for that as they get these massive jobs where people can't afford their services.  

I'd consider it a safe investment, if you can afford to hold for a while.That being said, your buy-in will be significantly (prohibitively) higher than most places in the US.

What if they couldn't afford that at that time? 

Unless I'm missing something, I can easily afford it but the problem might be getting the financing so I haven't looked into it yet.

You'll be very frustrated trying to get that kind of information at a weekend sales pitch.

But you can still find something in that price range, just maybe not close in.The problem that I see with your plan is that it may be difficult to figure out how much you can afford to pay each month for a mortgage without knowing how much you'll be making at your next job.  

The house is in a neighborhood that is still fairly affordable and transitioning.

Many BP users are smaller investors and not able to afford something as expensive as AF.

If you can't afford a months downtime, this isn't the game for you.