I was told by a broker that nowadays foreclosures and short sales don't provide much of the expected discounts from retail price.

Reference the Bexar county property, I suspect that it will have to go through the auction process before the Tax office would entertain a discount in the taxes owed.

I live in McAllen and have been searching for discount properties through a direct marketing campaign and driving the city. 

It is also a home built in 1913 and i know the town will require it to be brought up to code.

If you pull permits - the city will likely require you to bring everything to code.....  

An investor will discount any offer they make if the wiring is not upgraded--you must get a good estimate of what the upgrade will cost and what the house is worth and decide if it is worth spending the money.

I thought now was a good time to replace it since I wanted to add c/a and a new furnace would require ductwork for the returns to comply with code anyway.My spending drivers are improved resale value and rent competitiveness, as suggested above. 

The town of Vienna for instance has some strict coding laws that require more costs and analysis for building.

Keep in mind, if you have both a Foremost policy and a Farmers policy, then you get multi-policy discounts from both.

I know it doesn't have as much information, but it will show the value of the land vs the improvements, and I could infer if it's an absentee owner by checking the ZIP code.