Thats probably the only thing that will bear those ridiculous prices 

Hopefully it didn't get in the groundwater and it's only in the soil.

If you are worried about the lead leaching into the 3 to 10 ft of soil around the perimiter of your house (for those who garden and eat vegetables below the house eaves or those drilling water very shallow water wells next to the house) then you can collect runoff with plastic sheeting.

Another option, depending on how much demo/rehab you want to put into this, is to knock down the wall separating the kitchen from the dining/living space (if it's not load bearing) along with taking out the pantry.

@John Bear is one person who just closed on 5 properties. 

We thought renting would be a good idea so we can get our bearings in the new city and wait to figure out what area we wanted to buy with the current lack of inventory.

@Luis Chug Brown Bear Property Solutions is honest and fair.

But here's the secret: now's the time to bear down and hone those search skills.

Soils like Rains Sandy Loam in southeastern NC are not good.

Michael Wentzel If you're interested in OSU's campus area you may want to keep this in mind...http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014....It may not make much of an impact in the long run but it's something to bear in mind that the numbers may change in the next year or two.