Once you establish your REA license, you'll find that depending on who you broker with, that brokerage may have rules that will restrict you in doing some of the things you would want to do as a REI.  

(yes, they are lien-able, and depending on the boro sometimes they are billed monthly or quarterly, sometimes one utility bills for all 3 services or different utilities bill for 1 or 2 of them or each of them) 

You don't need to pay 100% cash, but you may need to put down 30% or more depending on your situation.  

Another possibility - depending on where it is in Syracuse, consider commuting for 4-6 months while you save up money.

Ultimately I think it depends on what your goals are for real estate. 

It also depends on the exterior as well. you don't want a super drastic color change.

When it is recorded could be up to 6 months later depending on how busy the county is recording deeds.

Account Closed Evenings would be good for me--the only day I'm usually busy in the evenings is Tuesday, otherwise it depends on the week.  

More than likely, this property would be an out-of-state purchase, perhaps a multi-family, depending on my options, and implementing a buy/hold strategy. 

Depending on the The condition of the clay pipe, it may or may not work well.