@Jessica Watson , with oil prices dropping, the Bakersfield market might suffer and that might create a buying opportunity.  

Once you did show up, he realized he wasn't dealing with a traditional owner, rather an investor and felt like you should either a) pay for the pain and suffering of waiting around for you and/or b) hoping you are an idiot and willing to pay a ridiculous price for what sounds like an easy job. 

@Tom Kelly is correct - your biggest issue is humidity and spillage.In Colorado, a single person may grow up to 99 plants if they are a care giver and getting a care giver license is laughably easy.  

However, this kind of deal will just prolong the suffering and cause more pain.

Also check if they have a dryer that it's properly venting outside.. and that she's not leaving wet clothes to air dry in the house...No house plants or fish tanks... as the extra moisture they need only adds to the problem

More than two months ago my home suffered water and mold damage because of a water leak.My insurance company sent a cleanup crew to begin the remediation process, but they disregarded proper procedures and exposed our entire home and all contents to mold spores beyond what was damaged.  

My house of cards collapsed and I suffered a long time as a result.  

simply better to suffer this time and buy outside the city next time.

If you are talking about Midland/Odessa, yes it is very dependent on oil, but the other metropolitan areas aren't really that tied to oil and gas.As others have stated the economy in Texas is diversified now, and we aren't having sky high oil prices, they have been in the same trading range for many years now, we are just toward the top of that range now.North Dakota, that is an area that is growing crazy because of oil and gas and could suffer a setback if oil and gas comes down too much

They're selling a portion of the house to the insurance company and don't want to suffer thru rebuilding.