Sounds like you are running on low income for building the business, so the door knocking is going to be right up your alley!

Ask the wholesaler to inform the seller that someone will stop by to inspect the house (a voicemail, email or letter) and then go knock on the door yourself maybe you’ll get lucky.

I recommend you knock on the neighbors door and ask if they know how to get in touch with the family or owner.

*But let me be clear, I am not knocking multifamily - I am huge fan and will continue to be. 

The greatest chance for water to accumulate is during a bad storm, which can knock out the power and render the pump useless.

Knock some doors and go find yourself a deal!

That was a totally useless and presumptive knock. 🙄 Best of luck in your journey!

I'm not sure if you're married to these locations and having "people" there, but in lieu of Chicago and for a much more modest purchase price offset, I can suggest Indianapolis. $200K in Indy would very likely open up both buy & hold doors  as well as fix & flip for you in different areas of the city. 

Go knock on the doors to that building. 

I imagine I’ll contract out some roofing, foundation, framing, electrical, and plumbing, but I’m pretty confident I can knock out the rest of the things with my lady to make our first property extra special.