The few I interviewed were upfront about not wanting to manage such a property due to the time commitment it is (for them).

Investor friendly eviction laws more prevalent in southeast vs midwest? 

@Dave Kansagor What is your 1031 timeframe...it's a balancing act to be able to get you into the right off-market opportunity and meet the requirements of the exchange....not impossible, but it will take some careful coordination.The difficulty with the exchange is that once you commit, your direction is set and you need to have multiple options.

Over the last several years the desire has renewed and now my wife is on board and we're committed to building our real estate business.

HIGHER option fee (like $3-5K) for 3-4 days, this shows how committed the buyer is. 

Half the battle is committing to do it, and it sounds like you're there!

Framing for the slabWe started with the slab- which included having to really commit to the layout in order to lay down the plumbing.

The prevalence of these types of deals is directly correlated to the market conditions.

The stimulus packages have provided rent relief and for any tenant who hasn’t applied they have committed fraud when they said on the cdc declaration they are doing everything possible to pay rent and need to be relocated to subsided government housing in jail.  

We have not committed to anyone yet, but if feels a little unethical/ like a bait and switch to market the property at one price and then request higher.