But if this happens a half dozen times what happens?  

He does have a couple half siblings, but they are in another country and not in frequent contact with his parents, so from their perspective all they would see is that the parents are living in an investment property that we own, and they are paying rent.  

If they do not pay, you can send them to a collections company who will take half of any proceeds to colllect. 

Take my half hearted investment for what it is - I ultimately decided not to invest there but can see the merits.One more note from a guy that is financially independent.

adding a half bath, complete reno.What was the outcome?

Is this the easiest way to find the meetups in your opinion

OK get the easiest out of the way - Depreciation does give you a current year write off. 

However, I can't find half of the owners.

private money is the easiest money to borrow . its no income and limited doc .

However, if this total income number is negative it will count against you like any other liability would (think car loan or other mortgages with no rental income or credit card min monthly payments/etc) against your DTI.DTI is typically maxed out around 45-50%, so half of your monthly figure so if you make 10,000 gross per month your max liability at @50% DTI is 5000 a month max payment.