These transactions can usually close rapidly, post receipt of title and an appraisal in 10-14 days.

I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on how to start, and if anyone could recommend some local title companies/ attorneys , that do closing deals with wholesalers.

You would tack on the equity investor as an owner of the LLC that holds title

The answer to your initial question, and post title is,..."

In my pursuit for single family home domination, I did purchase one duplex, one title for both units.Advantages of Investing in DuplexesLive in One Unit and Rent the Other: This is a big perk.

Do we write a check and have the Title company hold it until work is complete?

Read through the court documents online and it doesn't appear that the owner on title attended any hearings or tried to stop the foreclosure. 

I would first make sure to run a detail search on property. make sure you're talking to who the owner actually is. second, I check and see how much equity the homeowner has, and if there are any lien on the property. after you gather all that, then you can have an investor friendly agent help you with drafting a contract. so, you can have a contract in hand but also a Lien on the title, to make sure you're getting paid. 

Some things that might be a concern:1) Obviously have to make sure things are all permitted first2) I don't want the room to "feel" like an addition, so flooring has to be same level/standardized with the rest of the house3) Unlike the rest of the house that has an identically-shaped 2200sqft basement underneath, this added space will not have a basement directly underneath it -- I'm not sure if this poses major cons for some reason that I'm not aware of4) Especially given the lack of basement underneath, I have to make sure that the HVAC can still somehow be piped into this room#2 and #3 are probably my biggest concerns (#1 and #4 I can find out relatively easily)Any tips/thoughts or other experience would be greatly appreciated. 

First, what type of Trust did you title in?