So it is residential in the sense that it's not a store front or something like that.

My dad had to evict a family once that had cats, dogs, snakes, birds, ferrets, and live rodents stashed in every corner of the house. 

When buying some of these deals should I have a real estate agent in my corner and pay them 3%?

If he went to the roof, why would I go up there and corner him when he's 10 stories above the street?

Think about retail stores.

But for right now I'm trying to build enough cash stores in order to buy cash flowing properties.

Some are franchises, so that won't work, but you may get a couple hits.Things to consider- Do you have room for a store, too?

As for work in the town I bought in, it has three gas stations, a hotel and a bunch of mom and pop stores.  

This is one of those situations where you could end up spending a LOT more money trying to cut corners.

Not trying to rub salt in the wound, but foundation issues is one of the most common issues for existing construction in Texas.Most common issues are a sinking corners on slab on grade construction.