The individuals we hired to complete that work came very late at night, and without the necessary machinery to maintain the asphalt heated.

Plus you can add the "Historic" marker to the house, provided you maintain their standards. 

Retail Lessees pay out the nose, are responsible for NNN charges for improvements that they  don't control, and often pay additional rents based on breakpoints-- BUT the Owner has to be able and willing to make all the top-tier improvements and maintain the property at the highest level for the sake of the general public who will visit this merchant.  

One value add opportunity you might have is to implement some sort of RUBs for the heat, but you would still have to maintain everything. 

Typically to find deals off market you would need to optimize a marketing strategy and have people contact you, be consistent with the marketing, from there you need to understand their problem and determine how motivated they are to let a property go for a discount plus the various costs involved.

The street is tree lined and beautiful with old, well-maintained coops and quiet and family oriented.

For example, you live in Texas and maintain your residency and a home and voter, driver's license and vehicle registration in Texas. 

My town has the following:-$75 annual fee for landlords-$100 fee per property with each change of tenant-$200 application fee to rent to 3+ unrelated people-$135 annual fee to maintain 3+ tenant licenseFrom my seat, you got off easy ;-)It has to be deductible as some kind of rental expense IMO.

Leases are generally kept at 10% of sales and optimally 8%.

I have been quite bearish for a while, suspecting that the growing optimism which has characterised the last few months would eventually fade again as reality began to sink in that this is no ordinary recession and that 'less bad' doesn't necessarily translate into a quick recovery.