For one, that would be a gift in excess of $14,000, which exceeds the annual gift limit. 

I use that term loosely to include any scheme where a homeowner in foreclosure is duped into loosing the equity they had in the home.

The buyer had totally trashed the property and it was routinely loosing LOTS of money. 

Since the previous owners broke the lease they loose it and the new tenants should have to provide their own.

Texas has a lot of opportunity but be careful when you buy, I hear that you can get in trouble as an investor in the event you buy too high because Texas' appreciate rate is one of the lowest in the country due to the fact that there is so much land there's excess supply and little demand even in today's market!  

Highly leveraged players will get knocked out first, large players with deep pockets will weather the storm and will start to acquire the excess supply.I had a very interesting conversation with a guy who's job it is to crunche numbers for REITs and pension funds - they will go all across the country for a solid 3% ROI.

I'm not sure how wise it would be to cut them loose during rehab.To your success!

So due to this recent windstorm in our area, 2-3 shingles are missing from my roof.Similarly, this corner board has come loose from the siding and needs to be screwed/nailed back and caulked.Question is, we are expecting some rain later part of this week.

And then using what's left to payoff probably relatively low interest loan that you have on your rental and loosing interest write off deduction doesn't sound like a wise financial move...Why don't you consider setting up a self-directed IRA, moving your Vanguard IRA in there and then invest passively in trust deeds (or some other alternative assets).

The only reasonable explanation I can find is they are supplementing with J.O.B. income, or perhaps living off the excess borrowed funds..Some part of their story is missing.