I could be wrong on my recollection/knowledge of the set up, but I believe her very physically handicapped aunt was the official section 8 tenant, and the niece was a "guest" who was not supposed to be staying there.  

And no, it's not something that is only possible from a historic perspective, I pulled one out the first of August for a refi.The note world is a big place, many strategies may be employed, but rules of finance, like physics, says the faster you get your money back with a profit the higher your yield is on that transaction.

What is the physical condition of the property (is it nearing obsolescence; are there major systems due for renewal, etc)?

I am a general contractor and am familiar with the physical aspects of home improvements.

Tedious but you can do it at 10PM on Wednesday unlike a lot of things where you need to physically go to a government building.

Physics-wise, you get the heat of burning a candle in the room, no matter what nonsense you do to it.

As I hear day after day about rising prices and the biggest jump in real estate price indeces since 2006, I wonder how much of the measured increase is not actually due to an improvement in the market, but due to physical improvements in many of the properties being sold. i.e., How much has the mix of the condition of properties sold contributed to decreases and increases in real estate price indeces (e.g., Case/Shiller) throughout the economic cycle?

If they were in bad physical shape its most likely that they were bought by investors for cash.

Like I quickly learned after college, however, you don't really know anything until you actually, physically do it, so I am anxious (but slightly nervous) to get the ball rolling here in the next month or so.I won't go into the gory details of the business plan, but my general goal is to buy and hold cash flowing SFR's over the long term.

@James Vermillion the halfiron was the most challenging race I've ever done both mentally and physically.