My process is pretty close to your second variation.

Problem was they had Liens against them in there name and if they paid me off they could not sell the property as it would not have clear titleI say that because that may also be the case or some variation thereof

A variation is to 1031 one of the properties into a really nice investment property that will become your primary later. 

@Roemeo Barnette, I’ve been through variations of this same scenario with several clients over the past decade or so and the other posters here are spot on.

There is a lot of variation state to state and you will keep yourself out of hot water by understanding what you can and can’t do.

I'd like to pose a variation of this common question.

Rural areas may not have such variations but cities generally will.

Purchase price: $87,000 A foreclosed property that I acquired with price of 60% of market value, I acquire it using a slight variation of BRRRR (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance and Repeat). - Buy using hard cash, - Refinance my other properties to get the cash back + get the rehab fund, - Rehab of $30,000 to increase it's value to around $230,000- Rental units of 50 units with nett cashflow after expense and mortgage of $1200- Repeat: finding another opportunities with the extra money that I got from refinance Conclusion: I got the property with 0 cash invested (though short term cash is needed & using other property for refinancing), get $1200 / month (still in progress).

@Amber Gonion The concept you are referring to is "tacking" consecutive owners' possession together to meet the adverse possession time requirements and as far as I know there is some recognized variation of it everywhere.

Hey Diana,Here are the guidelines I use, though you'll need to make variations based on your market, age of properties, etc.