Accordingly, I elected NOT to pursue defamation charges or to recover the almost $400 electric bill that I paid while the property sat vacant. 

Cash-on-cash return for this home is 20.50% and the estimated time to recover original cash invested will be4.88 years if rent remains the same and no major expenses occur.

So you are relying on appreciation which will occur in virtually all markets over the long term, but the initial appreciation will go to recovering the negative cash flow.  

Makes me sick to see it because it can take someone a very long time if ever to recover from something like that.

They just weren’t bought at the right time, and the market hasn’t recovered enough to bring those values back up.It really has nothing to do with operations of the asset.

They all appreciate but peninsula is more stable in downturns and recovers the fastest, I witnessed this myself in 2012 further in east bay was still about 40% down and peninsula and "tech" cities already recovered fully.I am not sure you need a loan or not, recently I asked my mortgage broker he told me for a second home it would need to be at least 50 miles away and also in a city known for vacation activity .   

That 12 year decline was a result of the Great Recession (GR) and many markets recovered in less than 12 years.  

But the value eventually recovered and zoomed upward, and the rental income is amazing.Good luck to you / make it happen!

In fact, you have negative assets...and they are adding up.Realize that you must recover all of your costs (costs = cash out of pocket) before you can make ANY profits. 

Good luck and hope I your mother has a speedy recover!