Knock on their doors or send them letters that you want to buy the house across from them that's been sitting vacant for years.

I have worked for a real estate attorney for many years, also got my real estate agent license which was short lived, and I have been sitting on the thought of investing for many years.

Not everyone has that much cash sitting around to buy a house.

And now that I think about it... as I recall Nike, Motorolla, Intel, etc. were dealing with key employee's property management and resales when they went abroad for say two years or more, which was typically just 'outsourced' to local companies, much like say finding a buyer's agent in another demographic to work with LO buyers and sellers for a percentage split, so one can do deals outside of their own back yard.

The inside half mounts on the wall, and the rest sits outside.

Sit tight......Or, perhaps a moderator that sees this can enlighten me.Shawn

Cleaning/wetting the carpet that is sitting on the wood can cause the boards to ripple or if enough water penetrates, buckle.

Depending on what the layout of the building is, there is a good chance that smoke and water could have damaged much more than what is visible and sitting empty for that long can be difficult to for mold and pest reasons.If the damage only affected one or two units it may be easier to put at least a few of the lesser damaged ones into service quickly. 

@Wayne Brooks  WF home loans in our market is very schetchy for the reasons you mention no real training in the ways of MLO ing.... just a bureaucrat who gets paid to sit at a desk..

I don't know if you have Foremost out there but I believe they offer this coverage too....I cannot recall limits.