I can't imagine a bank losing sight of this situation. 2007-2009 sure, there were so many homes in foreclosure it took them a long time to process them, foreclose etc. 3.

I prefer refinishing wood and patching, if at all possible.  

Beautiful old hard wood floors.

Beautiful old hard wood floors.

Wood cost are almosttriple in the past 140 days and your good  contractors are busy so their prices are high.You can plan on cost per square foot from $250 to $350 per square foot.Demo to remove existing house can cost $25,000 to $40,000 or more .If your property will allow you to keep the house and ad to with your idea's it would be moreeconomical .The great news is your have lots of options!  

I was thinking of adding a wood fence for privacy and putting some pebble rocks down.

In other late breaking news, women receives ticket for speeding, bears do poo in woods and water is wet....It's subsidized housing, everyone in sec8 knows you can't do that, everyone who pays an ounce of attention as it's only conveyed countless times. 

We did flooring, painted throughout, painted kitchen cabinets, minor remodel of the bathroom, bought a baller fridge, and built a 6' wood fence around the backyard.I've lived here since middle of December.

I installed these back in October and *knock on wood*, so far so good.  

You can also find a deal in your neck of the woods, FHA multi unit financing with 5% down payment and "occupy" the largest unit (per FHA guidelines).