In majority of instances seller financing for the seller is a horrible idea and should only be an option when the home doesn’t get conventional financingMany will disagree with above which is fine - it’s similar to winning lottery and taking lump sum over payments.

If you had small losses (no past due tax payments) and the late return penalties are lower than the tax prep fees you saved by not filing - you come out ahead, but it’s a win with an *.

You can even pull off The Office "win win win" scenario with 3 parties all coming out ahead.

Which by the way, will still allow you to purchase more property and add to your depreciable basis that way.My two cents would be that it is a no win scenario trying to please a buyer with improvements. 

I understand their are some risk with county liens and, 2nd mortgages being attached to the property, that Imay inherit if I win the auction

Whenever you are using leverage, you need to have ample slack in the system and sufficient cash reserves (or access to cheap & instant cash) to cover vacancies, capital expenses, unplanned maintenance, and other issues to avoid missing your note payments. 

Who is going to win when properties double in value? 

Bought for cash flow, got appreciation, and then exited with their winnings. 

He kept avoiding our requests and said we should claim it in our 2023 taxes instead… The last straw for us was when he tried to charge us another $7.5k to file our taxes which obviously ended our relationship instantly.

Now, I would pick my battle and perhaps find a win win for this, but this is a win and a loss for everyone else.