This was more that one or 2 days of a leaky ac unit would have caused, and even though it's the AC's fault, I feel I should have been notified earlier about the issue before it ruined the whole floor.

That being said, it is possible that this lot is ready to go, simply needing infrastructure buildouts - assuming that the thousands of postcards sent to the owner over the years have gone unread, and that he has no telephone service, etc.

They painted about a 1/4" on the cheap trim ruining it.

Granted, ONE DEAL will pay for thousands of signs, but it's all about staying positive and not giving up until you get there!! 

If all goes according to plan, the project will net a few thousand bucks.

Try to get a slightly lower rate for those points.  1/8 of a percent will net you thousands.  

IN many parts of the country ( say Chicago) there are literally 100's of thousands of duplex and up to 4 flats.. its how a great part of the city was built.Your in a small town in the mid Willamette valley... there simply is not a lot of duplexs and four plex's as a ratio to housing units.. so you have to be realistic.. also Corvallis is very high priced with the state collage... you may want to go to Lebenon to look or one of the little farming towns close to Albany that may have less competition...

I've spent $50 on jack posts to add extra support and remove small sags out of old floors to thousands of dollars under a house.

It was getting expensive all around and I was out several thousand dollars.Finally, a few days after what was supposed to be my move in date, the home owner of the new property advised me that a real estate investor wanted to buy the property for cash and turn it into a weekly vacation rental (lol).

This can range to a few thousand and I've seen up to $15k in city fees.