Out of curiousity I just pulled all <$200K houses in Austin, Round Rock, Leander, Cedar Park and Pflugerville.

@Bernard Evans Your CPA rocks for guiding you in the right direction!

If this is a good enough deal and you don't want to rock the boat, just eat the cost and make the deposits whole.  

Is there a rock I haven't looked under or is it time to just give up on these?

You could find something relatively affordable there if you're turned off by prices in the metro Denver area and be within a reasonable drive from Castle Rock.

City County # of households Median Household Income Oxford township Oakland 7,868 $70,381 Livonia city Wayne 37,199 $70,125 Brownstown township Wayne 11,119 $70,095 Chesterfield township Macomb 16,710 $66,779 Gibraltar city Wayne 1,739 $66,477 Rose township Oakland 2,587 $66,117 Royal Oak city Oakland 28,371 $65,786 Shelby township Macomb 29,464 $65,404 Allen Park city Wayne 10,592 $63,007 Farmington city Oakland 4,671 $62,261 South Lyon city Oakland 4,805 $61,523 Holly township Oakland 4,272 $60,960 Sterling Heights city Macomb 49,444 $60,089 Harrison township Macomb 11,076 $57,217 Flat Rock city Wayne 3,664 $56,700 Clawson city Oakland 5,481 $56,395 Waterford township Oakland 30,127 $55,552 Van Buren township Wayne 11,275 $55,309 Woodhaven city Wayne 5,163 $55,266 Trenton city Wayne 7,798 $55,218 Lenox township Macomb 3,175 $55,159 Sumpter township Wayne 3,533 $53,153 St.

You can come see the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame!

Dry climates rock with the exception of the fact that in areas where you don't see mold (like Denver), the prices are through the roof.Have I mentioned mold in a basement where folks have broken in and stolen the copper pipes sucks?

I had some luck in my early 20’s and was making very good money, and then I made the decision to merge my business into a partnership with a competing company, thinking together we could take the company nationwide…two and a half years later…I lost everything, was broke, in debt up to my eyeballs, lost my car, lost my home, was homeless and hit ROCK BOTTOM!!

I like that she's rocking heels in there on demo day.