Also, during construction we had a thermostat hanging by it's wires. 

Most homesellers will slam doors in your face, hang up the phone on you, ignore your postcards/letters, and just not want to speak with you.  

Now, before finding a partner, I urge to find a mentor and learn firsthand about Real Estate but in the process add value to that mentor (I see you are an accountant, that is a low hanging value add right there).

You have to really think through the ROI on things like air conditioning, dishwashers, hanging microwaves, etc.

There's much lower hanging fruit out there then REOs. 

It was informative and encourages me to hang in there.CheersCynthia

I should make back over 4x the amount "in" them by the time I'm ready to hang up my hat and call it good, so if I can give them away for $20K-30K a piece to a budding investor I'll be only too happy.The problem is with "pigs" in expensive markets. 

it's "how long can I hang on waiting for the recovery?"

You can easily get 12% returns once you get the hang of real estate investing through: debt pay down, appreciation, tax benefits, cash flow, and low down payments (CoC return)

CL, local FB, and have a banner hanging on the outside of the building.