Lost Opportunity?

I've been contemplating this latest deal gone sour, along with some other deals that fell through, and wonder if maybe I'm setting my criteria to high. Granted, this latest deal was skinny, but I wonder now if maybe it is still worth pursuing. For instance, the homeowner said she owed roughly $146,000. Only one house has sold in the neighborhood in the last 6 months, and that wasn't comparable in size and whatnot. Older comps were from about a year ago, which brought the range from $133k to $177k with $155k being the average.

So ...

I take the house Sub2 with an existing $146k loan balance, making payments of $1,543/month. Someone suggested that I could ask the sellers for a grant (not a loan) to cover the repairs of roughly $2-3k. This same person said I could sell the house with a wrap for around $160k. This is where it gets a little "iffy" for me. I haven't tried selling retail to non-qualified buyers yet, so I'm not sure what to expect. Can I contract it reasonably fast for $160k on my terms? I guess maybe I still have some apprehension about some REI things - this being one of them. I can't afford to shell out $1,543/month even for ONE month as my reserves are slowly being depleted with other things.

I suppose I could try to offer to take the property Sub2 and ask for a repair grant from the sellers. The worst that could happen is they say "No" (or more like, "HELL NO!"). But if they say "Yes", I could do the repairs myself and pocket some of the repair grant money for possible holding costs. Again, my fear is it will sit and I'll end up losing money on the deal - in essence becoming a motivated seller myself. My ideal exit would be to find a buyer who cannot qualify traditionally and ask for an upfront d/p of $10-$15k. I'd use that to replenish my reserves. I'd then sell on a wrap for about $50-$150 more than the current escrow payment of $1,543, making a nice little income stream.

I don't know ... Is this wishful thinking? Maybe my first instincts are right and my fear IS justified in this case. Gotta think some more about it.