They have bid more than the property is worth.Eric if their is a lender or possibly ground rent holder you cold buy their interest and foreclose. however it is not likely they will be interested in selling their interest unless it is a small local bank.

I would say that while you're getting a retail operation off the ground, it might be advisable to continue renting. 

I haven't done a deal yet, but i'm laying the ground work to purchase a property in 2016.  

So don't let Dodd-Frank ground any owner financed opportunities you may come across. 

Even with property managers its difficult to ensure they are upholding your standard of tenant and grounds care and maintenance. 

I've been MIA for the better part of this year for a few different reasons, one of them being I was busy getting my first rental property off the ground.

Sometimes you can find some common ground and do a mix of both.

There was a podcast (and I can't remember which one), where a woman had a rule that rent went up when she found cigarette butts on the ground, but supplied ash trays outside.

We have had great success from Realtors in the past but finding "Hardworking" boots on the ground ones are not so easy to find.

It sounds like you're enthusiastic about learning real estate, but that's not going to motivate anybody to invest their time to talk to you, especially if you're at ground zero in terms of your real estate knowledge.