i quickly realized this was taking up a lot of my time and 9 times out of 10 they used my quote to as a negotiating tactic to reduce the sales price, then performed the work themselves or put it out to bid again. 

The property will sell if you reduce the price enough.

Question for you smart bears out there -- How do folks a) reduce their tax exposurewhile simultaneouslyb) continue to qualify for financing for bigger and better deals (as they continue to do deals)? 

@Steve S. others have recommended this but I cannot stress this enough.

there’s no such thing as 100 percent protection, advance planning can help reduce your risk.

They help bring me peace of mind that fixing up a property over time can be achievable and (hopefully) less stressful!

Takes the Stress off of doing R.E.

When cities and towns can't make ends meet, they have two choices (like any business): increase revenue or reduce expenses.In most cases the ability to reduce expenses is minimal at this point, and the far easier choice is to simply increase taxes.

Last stress test for short term, could you withstand no income on the property for 6 months? 

That could be you buying the home from the seller and the proceeds being used (at closing) to satisfy the debts or that could be negotiating a reduced payment to the debtors and "assuming" title in exchange for satisfying those debts.But . . . if you can't negotiate this with the seller, then the legal process of taking a home from someone is a foreclosure.