It's essential to get all the information you can about the squatter: did they ever have a contract with the owner, how long have they been there, how many are there, has anyone told authorities, do they have access to any utilities you'll have to pay for, etc.

I believe the DLBA offers it to the next highest bidder.One other potential scenario is the winning buyer was willing to pay ~$100,000 for this house AND they are a city employee or has a relative that is a city employee.

This was more than I wanted to pay at the time. 

Why would she pay 12k for two furnaces and HW tanks, when the cost is about 6k- 7k, ?

-Has no crawlspace (common for older properties) so we couldn't see the foundation-Drywood termite/wood decaying fungi damage seen on all the windows/doors/parts of the beam on the exterior, parts of roof decking and rafters in the attic-Old leaks/moisture damage seen in the ceilings and attic-Parts of the roof has patch work-Roof doesn't have any permits on record (don't know how old it is)Seller's offer to me:-Fumigation treatment for drywood termites (tenting the house)-Replace and repair all damage wood throughout the house-Replace the entire roof with a new permit-Replace one window in every room (not all)-Pay for a structural engineer to inspect the foundation-Offer to get quotes for repairs and have a 15-20K budget to make all repairs, house is 500K.

Landlord pays for water and some common area lighting, $100 a month.

@Robert Weissfeld so a couple thoughts. 1) using "pre-approved or mostly ready-to-go building plans" sounds good but people paying $3m for a home don't want a cookie cutter so it might not be a good idea to go that route.

I find a few comparable properties on Airbnb in each location I’m prospecting & pay my offshore assistants to track these properties every day for the next few months & record how much $$ they’re making.

Tampa, near the Base for 30 years and all my Tenants were Minimum Wage Slaves, without a Bank account, who could not pay the Rent if anything went wrong.

You are also likely to pay more for contractors and get a lower-quality install because you are not there to supervise.