It also has some government tax liens ( IRS ) in subordinate position with no equity.

So many "cash" buyers have commercial lines of credit, Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC), even credit cards with significant lines that allow them to convert money into cash quickly. 

Here are some idea: if the person that wants to invest can pull equity out of their home and use that, might be able to get a loan in that country with a sizable down payment.

Those that have had success with some iteration of the design/build/develop model have really leveraged their skills via sweat equity.

To acquire the property, the buyer will need only $702,000 in equity plus amounts sufficient to fund the seller' s replacement reserve, insurance and real estate tax escrows (such escrows are held by the lender for the borrower' s benefit).Would that mean you only need to come up with the $702,000 to purchase? 

They have paid a large amount on the home, and would rather sell it quickly versus losing all their equity.  

The biggest hurdle I have seen is that all postings for positions such as this requires past experience and in some cases schooling.

Either way, you're in a great position to give yourself options for the future.You're doing right now what I want to accomplish in the next 18 - 24 months.

It's certainly the easiest way to build equity when you are just starting out.In King county, you can forget about 1% rule, if you find .5% you'll be in great shape.

It would provide $100K equity for the risk (I always overrun my rehab budget in terms of both cost and time) and effort without any selling costs, selling taxes, etc.