I arranged a time where the buyer can go walk through the property (I contacted the seller, the seller arranged with the tenant) and boom, the buyer wanted to pull the trigger at a price where I made $5k profit.

Ehhhh probably not so much.And then there's of course the standard biggerpockets.com advice to always be mortgaged to the hilt and ever more in debt, which would mean a cash out refinance to pull ~$200k out and buying something else.

I am speaking in the past tense because we didn't think this felt right without the wife not seeing the house as well, they supposedly got offended we weren't jumping at the high offer, and pulled it.  

Preliminary analysis was positive so I actually pulled the trigger to lock up the land.

You seem to be one of the few that pulls the trigger and gets things done, most people never end up making it to where you are.

keep it simple for now pull a list of probates for your area.

When comparing those with finished basements, I pulled the basement sq. ft. out separately but that is really skewing my numbers.In general, it certainly seems like buyers are paying around the same $/sq. ft of finished basement vs above ground.

You can pull up sales on Zillow and see what similar ones have been selling for. 

Pros = 1) Rented on one side for 15 years, the other for 2 years 2) Zillow is telling me that its worth $52,0003) There is nothing rented for under $400 on Craigslist in that area.4) I have it under contract for $20,0005) I have had an agent/property manager tell me it is worth 65K not to buy if for more then 50K he also has properties in that area. he thinks it should rent for $350 to $375.7) A property manager went there and told me its not in a war zone,but its a 6 with 10 being the worst.8) A second agent gave me an income approach and told me if I wanted to sell it I could get about $40,000Cons= 1) 3rd agent went there and he told me that the area is too rough for him and wont touch it, but has friends that will go in that area.2) I am unable to pull comps- I have used things like myfirstamerican, Eppraisal, Chase estimator, and not getting anything, this is also why I have contacted a lot of agents to give me some feed back. 3) I live in California and will have to find a support team there.

My wife and I attended a meeting and the properties for sale were at a great prices, low enough to pull greate equity for more investments.