Only having 20% equity in a property leaves your excess cash where you want in and not tied up in that particular asset. 

All three houses cashflow and she is not interested in selling at all as this is her retirement plan and main source of income, however due to excess cc debt, a high DTI, low credit score and lack of financing options, she is extremely cash poor. she is at the point where she could and I think should declare bankruptcy on those cc's, and move the houses out of her name. in order to get financing, all houses need to be in LLCs, which they aren't.in order to kill a couple birds with one stone, my mind goes straight to 1.

Supreme Court unanimously held that a county's retention of the excess value of a home in a tax sale violated the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

When the cat leaves, the mice will play"As an out of state investor, the mice are always playing.It takes years and years to develop trustworthy relationships with feet on the ground.Even then, you will loose money just like we do to this day in Toledo to shady contractors, etc...And we have a whole team of people on the ground including myself and my co-founder.Granted, if you do it right you can find amazingly cheap deals, renovate and have immediate equity plus jaw dropping cashflow.I would advise moving to the market you are considering and getting your hands dirty for a few years.Easier said than done but if I moved from Sydney, Australia to Toledo, Ohio.Anyone can do the same lolWishing you much success

The only concern that I give to appreciation is to do my due diligence to confirm that the home is not located in an area that is projected to loose value.

This will cost thousands more to complete and loose many potential buyers . i have started the process for a land survey.

As a first time landlord, I’m looking for some friendly advice to help get this apartment cleaned up and safe, without infringing on his privacy in excess.

Bear in mind what that means though - you are risking loosing as well.

Why loose the rent?

HML is one that holds themselves out as a lender IE advertises has a website in states that its required is state licensed and NMLS registered does not matter the source of their funds its about how the business is set up and marketed.A private money lender is simply that a private person that is NOT in the business of making loans they are simply using their IRA or some excess cash to loan to those they usually personally know or meet at RIA events.