For this agents would have to input the data into Zillow and share with the same beast that sells their own information back to them, at a profit.

I guess I wasn't clear if you are the Buyer or Seller of the Lease to own example.Sellers profit by taking a down payment from people who don't traditionally qualify for a home loan.

If we had suddenly decided to venture into this without land, buying land would immediately kill any profitability. 

MUCH profit to you.

If you can live there another 10 months then you won't get taxed on the profit when you sell.

Any perceived profit will get eaten up by transfer fees.As far as your rehab budget, 5-10K will get you 1 thing. 

For $15 grand, I would pursue justice by legal means.

Much profit to all of you!

The owner is a friend of the family and just doesn't want it anymore and doesn't care to make a profit. they are very well off anyway. 

Remember, you have to pay for land, const. costs, soft costs, interest carry on your loan, permit and development impact fees, your profit, and fit that all into 120k per door on the unit sale (BTW, 120k per unit walking distance from Chesapeake Bay sounds cheap, but I'm not familiar with the market).