My RE Broker/Property Mgr said in recent years investors have come to favor Section 8 as a safer bet for landlording.

Your best bet is to find a contractor that knows how to deal with the gas co. 

Your best bet would be to hit a third party API that does the majority of the work for you.

I could write pages here of all the different concerns, aspects and steps to take in becoming a Land Developer.Your best bet at this point is an educated willing partner who has the experience so that you don't fall into a money pit before you even begin to develop the property (ies). 

My bet is that if you needed to get out of this condominium or decided that renting it was not economically viable you would be stuck with it for an extended period and/or you may have to sell at a potentially large loss.

I'm willing to bet you are under contract for close to the value.

I would say your best bet is an Attorney.

personally, bruny, i am of the nature to try to get something as cheap as i can get it. its kind of a " i win" stragedy. lol. the better i do, the better i feel about it. from the the numbers you listed, $162 seems ok. they came down $27,000, you offered $59,000 less than original. my guess is that was a lowball offer for you. most banks aren't going to settle for a lowball offer anyway. i think i would come back at $150,000. you have come up a decent amount and are willing to assume other liens on the property, and you would be offering a reasonable amount to the bank for it. sure, they came down further than you went up, but if you add in the other liens, i would bet you pretty much meet in the middle

Is it something worth looking into if you can find multiple trustworthy property managers and can check out the property a few times per quarter?

I would expect they would be broke if that were the case.I would bet numbers are embellished during the telling of the story.One of my employees had a friend who helped produce the San Antonio show.