How do you buy out a mortgage from someone without blowing a ton of cash?

[John McConnell]

I have a friend who currently has a home in Atlanta. He is moving up to the New England area and is trying to get rid of his home. He would like to rent it out but is unsure about how that would work and sounds like he would rather not have the headache at all. Most of the prospective buyers don't like the home because he has an unfinished basement. The basement is pretty much a separate apartment with its own kitchen. So I asked the question can the basement be sealed off and separate from the top, is it above ground basement, etc. it sounds like it could potentially be split into a duplex ... I know most people are like don't ever try to rent out the basement. I haven't seen the hard data on the house as of yet. I told him to bring me the data so I could look over it and see what the best plan of action is. What would you do in my shoes? Would you try to take over the mortgage? Refi? Leave it alone? Fix and flip? Convert to over under duplex?

[Roy N.]

Originally posted by @Jon Holdman:

...

The biggest issue you often hit with a basement unit is egress.  You often have to convert windows to meet current codes for egress.

 That and fire-rating the ceiling and common walls between the basement {accessory} apartment and the main house.  This includes fire calking or collaring all plumbing, electrical and HVAC runs which transition between spaces.   In some jurisdictions a common mechanical room needs to be fire separated from the remainder of the building depending on the fuel source used for heating.