Beg borrow or steal the money to get the foundation fixed.Brian above had a very good suggestion on how on how to get a good loan.Get the place cleaned up as best as you can...farm out any of the prep that you can't do yourself.Take deep breaths. 

When research markets for things like demographics, wage growth population growth , and attracting the creative class; what websites or specific data do you pull where do you get your information and what numbers and specific trends do you look for most when choosing to invest buy and hold wether commercial or residential?

I would love to say that this is wrong, but in reality, if the bank held their breath and did nothing everytime a borrower said they wanted to do a short sale, it would be counterproductive for the bank.

Just thinking ahead to when this property becomes vacant and trying to make it into something a little more attractive.

There is some upside to raising the rents and doing some reno on units that make this particularly attractive.  

In processing this deal in my head, there are some sticking points about the construction of the house that would make it less attractive to buyers.  

That would be a super attractive property to have in my porfolio with  lower than normal operating costs.

But would consider core areas with the understanding that I may be overpaying by up to 10% but over 10 years it will be a winner.I'm a Brentwood guy who started buying up SFRs in 2011-2013 time fame and the return over roughly the past 3 to 4 years has been breath taking.

They could sell the first position note (which would be at an attractive rate) and hold the 2nd (which would be as close to negative as I can get it) but even then running 19 buildings for a few grand a month seems pointless when there's easier money here. 

However, the sell price is looking attractive.