They had major issues with lead times and hitting their deliveries which was annoying, but we have also experienced an issue with the large sliding window in our master bedroom (seems a seal exposure/draft issue) already within a year or so.So I won't be buying Crestline again, maybe not fair but that's my data point...

Having a rusty old truck out side that when I start up a cloud of black smoke slides through the neighborhood (I have done that... not good).  

We were going to have a formal inspection done before making an offer just to be crystal-clear on what we would be dealing with, but the realtor suggested we save some time and money by having a contractor take a look to help us determine the repairs required, and subsequently how much we should offer.Is this pretty standard practice as far as "due diligence" goes? 

If the tenant doesn't respond appropriately to the initial legal notices to comply with the terms of the rental agreement, then we turn it over to our attorney to proceed and their process server will deliver subsequent legal notices.For simple communications, some landlords have success with email and/or texting.

If there is considerable equity in the property, this situation can be quite profitable, by acquiring the seller's interest and subsequently foreclosing on the non-selling co-owner for his/her unpaid portion of the expenses.It works like this, do a title search to confirm who has how much interest in the house, and get a good inspection to see what maintenance is currently required. 

The process I went through included "where would I be willing to live", how do they treat landlords there, how much can I "cash flow" the properties in those cities, are jobs coming into those cities or is the city on the down hill slide.

The garage is old with a sliding barn door that does not seal the inside from the cold weather.  

The strategy is to keep the property preforming + offsetting our expenses as long as possible by renovating units, bringing them to market, and turning over the subsequent units.

If there's a property that has already had a foreclosure suit filed against the property owner by a holder of a tax lien certificate against that property and I own a subsequent tax lien on the same property, will the Plaintiff be required to pay off my TLC if/when they win the case? 

@Chris Reeves  Not at all my area of expertise.. however I have been around a few syndicators over the years.. and the general partner usually has some pretty good discretion in the event the sunset and subsequent sale is not optimal.And I imagine the sponsor could just go back to the investors for a vote to see what they want to do.I have seen though fixed debt get called in the last GFC... with owners that were on 5 year call notes ... having their notes called because the bank was not in a position to roll it over..