When I hauled away all the junk in the basement, painted its walls, and had the floor professionally scrubbed, lo and behold, the effective doubling of the house's useable square footage and the potential to create additional living space down there (maybe even a separate living area) became a nice selling feature to prospective buyers.

You can also create value by recognizing opportunity, like developing the three lots on this one, or adding square footage in high dollar areas, zoning something commercial, etc.  

I would like to get this squared away over the next few days.

-I am planning to sell this unit in less than a year for multiple reasons; does having Section 8 attach any strings or red tape to selling the property?

That's nuts.The tenant's refusal to pay late fees is an interesting problem -- with OP's tenant so close to moving out, I agree that it's best to make an effort to improve the relationship and not draw a red line.  

(rented at $600/mo)-I have not seen the inside of the property, but have been told it has many updates and is turnkeyI will pay zero interest-I will make no monthly payment-I will collect all the rentThe lack of an interest payment is a red flag to me.

On the government side, I purchased properties having the powers of condemnation and eminent domain.You'll also find that building reg types, fire marshals and other government officials can apply "selective enforcement" just as a cop doesn't give a speeding ticket to the old guy in the truck following the young blonde in the red sports car ahead of him who does get a ticket.

At a point there is diminishing returns when it come to buy a house with more square footage.

New to albany, recently closed on multi-unit property in Center Square. 

Some we're big enough for 2-3 houses, and it just made me curious what the average cost per square foot is to build a house from ground up.