Listen to the podcast and then look her up, I'd bet she'd be able to help you out.

I'd say your best bet is to look for a private lender to provide the loan. 

My bet was that military moving here from the mainland would be used to more modern and nicer apartments, and would be willing to pay a bit more for something that reminds them of what they can get at home.

Did I really drive all those miles...you bet I did!  

I bet it's well over half.

You know, I bet if you were to contact some of these places you see that are vacant and get all the details and then bring it to someone who's interested in flipping, you'd probably have a lot of interest.

Best bet is to get in touch with the attorney who handled it for the city and/or the inspector assigned to the case and confirm what you need to do to get the building up to code.

Haven't done it myself but I bet it comes out comparable or higher than Manhattan.

People here on BP will correct me - and I'm thankful for that.If you are good in spreadsheets (and as a bank statistician I bet you are), you will find online tax lien and tax deed auctions addictive for the spreadsheet analysis you can do.

It's your best bet to get the highest value, and thus the highest loan amount.