They will be worried that they will be dislodged and could be feeling defensive and ready for a fight if they think you are going to come in and kick them out.In terms of the lease - normally you would be deciding about whether to continue the current tenants before offering as this will probably be specified in the contract you have signed - it is in FL where I operate so I would check to see if you are already committed to the tenants in the standard contract - there's a clause about transferring current tenant leases normally.Normally the lease they have signed will transfer directly to you as the new owner - you need to check with your Realtor about your state's law to know for sure what your rights are but in FL you can if you choose transfer leases at closing - or specify that you wish to alter the lease upon title transfer so that may be something you need to resolve swiftly...I hope this helps in some way and again really well done!

Land just outside of town is available and we think would attract families who need housing for several years or more.There is a lot of room for alterations to this idea, and we are total newbies to all of this, so the major question is simply about the viability of such a plan.

That, was a game changer for me and has altered my perspective moving forward.

Under my lease, tenants are precluded from making any alterations without my written consent. 

A pre-ordinance (built before July 8, 1957) residential building or building of mixed residential occupancy, not complying with the requirements in force and applicable to the building at the time of its conversion, may be altered so as to legalize one dwelling unit, in addition to the number of dwelling units originally authorized, providing that said unit was determined by the office of the zoning administrator or the zoning board of appeals to have existed prior to July 8, 1957, and provided such building complies with the other provisions of this chapter.

I think it just comes down to is she worth keeping around if good, and dealing with the inconsistencies of the lease issues, or push for the lease to be cleaned up and potentially lose her.Obviously, the ideal is you push just hard enough to get her on a new lease, and help her understand the rules regarding alterations, and keep her, but I read the original post that it seems like that isn't feasible.

Too many rules, gotchas and Darth Vadar style, "I am altering the deal. 

But alterations, renovations, additions, etc. are all covered. 

After co-mingling, the next biggest way to pierce your corporate veil as I am to understand is to use the LLC as an alter-ego. 

I was able to start a real estate partnership with the owner of a property management company in town and I have read so many success stories in real estate where the investor talked about how the first deal was life altering and propelled them into more and more deals.