The title company worked to get a title check for the property and uncover a loan on the property that the seller, who was the heirs of the property held by deceased parents, did not know about.

Right but we are under contract, so If we get to closing and they say the title search uncovered an issue, it is not clear... is it too late to back out of the deal?  

The contractor stated he is unable to determine the exact amount of time it will take to finish the job because he's unsure of what he will uncover when removing tile etc.

If mid-lease inspection has uncovered a ceiling fan and two light fixtures that need replaced (broken by kids hitting then with a football), do I send the tenants a bill to pay now, or deduct out of security deposit? 

If significant deferred maintenance is uncovered, the deal could be an issue, since housing authorities often have more stringent repair and maintenance requirements for Section 8 properties.

I also just combed through the comps in the neighborhood one more time and even though there aren't other 4plexes I can find, most buildings are still at $210k or below, so I agree that it may not appraise well.It's been feeling increasingly risky since I got my offer accepted and have uncovered more about the property.

Keep an eye out and see what you can uncover.

Numbers dont lie, but rapport building can uncover value in places you didn't know were there.All the best!

The best way to explaining this is for you to download an IRR calculator spreadsheet or build your own simple one and play around with one.For what its worth most deals I deem meeting minimal IRR standards is 13-15% but you have to dig a little deeper to uncover the real placements of cashflows and capitalization events... and then dig even deeper to verify the assumptions such as occupancy, rent increases per year, and what reversion cap rate was used.Again I don't look for IRR cause its manipulated a lot instead I look at total return on a 5 year basis.

I do think though that it is an important factor to actually get a return on your ones investment and that there are market that have more potential appreciation than others, which is the bottom line I am trying to uncover along with how stable the tenant population in terms of turnover frequency is in St.