A bit of a catch 22, you enter into a purchase contract without the intent to purchase or the ability to buy you have a voidable contract.

You have to "educate" your tenants on the concept and rational for the change which is not in their best economic interest, and offer them something in exchange for the higher rent, otherwise you are going to have a tough road ahead converting them.Your tenants have enjoyed both under market priced office space and underpayment of their fair share of operating expenses, and your ability to now up their rent by 30% and increase their expense reimbursement to market will not go over well no matter how eloquent you phrase your justification for the new higher rent and expense reimbursement.  

Having 60k in debt is going to hinder your ability to qualify for a loan.

I hold a degree in Electronics Engineering and another in English/Creative Writing.I also am suffering from a traumatic brain injury that I incurred while on active duty (Vietnam) that, while not affecting my intellectual abilities, causes minor judgmental problems at times.

The ability to walk away from bad deals is a necessary skill.

So a triplex consisting of all 1 bed 1 baths receives a bill of $39,588 (amortized over 30 years) and incurs a monthly bill of $93.00 but yet a SFR that has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms is only subject to $15,000 (over 30 years) and a $41.00 monthly sewer fee.  

They feel by lowering the price it doesn't show they are willing to help out with repair costs, it would just give the potential buyer the ability to negotiate the price of the home down further.

You're looking at situations where parties are reasonably motivated to act, having equal or similar knowledge being aware of their actions acting prudently in their own best interests , having the freedom to act, are not under duress, where the parties are reasonably informed and have the ability to act in their own best interests.Predatory lending activities is another ball game, while most acts relate to these areas mentioned there are specific terms that are defined as predatory lending. 

There is always the possibility you can lock it up under contract (if you have the ability to close) and try to wholesale it, but generally speaking prices on the MLS are well above what investors are targeting for wholesale deals.

Less competition for me :).In reality, this business isn't dead and even though the barrier to entry is low, the actual expertise, salesmanship, marketing capability and human networking ability needed to complete a deal is not low.This business is like a snowball, once it starts rolling it's damn near impossible to stop.