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You will see no benefit from mass-301 redirects to the home page, and it might even hurt. The only way to get value is if you redirect it to identical or similar content. I wouldn't even count on that adding value or traffic now that the site has changed hands and content has been gone for a while. Still, if you can recover (and have the right to use) the old content, it might be worth 301 redirecting - or better yet, putting on the same URL so no redirects are necessary. Only do this if the content was good and the links were quality links. Otherwise let them 404. If you can't put up the same or similar content, don't bother. Focus on building the site naturally.

Came here to say what Ray already said.

Nofollow links still pass some authority, but no where near an in body link.  I commented on blogs like Website Magazine, and a few other real high authority blogs.  I just used my actual name, and didn't try optimize the link. Ranking for web design is definitely a little different because of inflated numbers.  You should also keep in my that link analysis tools, like Moz and Majestic, don't find every link on the internet, and can take a while to discover some links.  Always take these stats with a grain of salt, and focus on getting quality links. If you are working local you can always try identify links pages in your area.  I was able to get one from a couple historical societies and a mall just by asking for it.  You can also have a link in your signature on forums, but try to limit these since too many would look spammy.