Now, buy and hold would be another story altogether with an upside potential.

I believe this is the typical path for the average investor like myself while the more creative ways to construct deals are solely for the more experienced and savvy investor, depending on their comfort level with such tactics.I'm still working on the network end of things to perhaps someday JV with someone on potential opportunities to avoid lenders and banks altogether, but again, skin in the game is still needed by someone.  

@Joe S. he said he's been working at KeyGlee for four months, not been in real estate altogether for four months. 

Maybe you can make a profit using it as a short term rental or find a way to rent it at a premium or totally different strategy altogether.

I say hopefully because many of these payments are reduced or altogether eliminated by any amounts owed by the beneficiary to other government agencies, such as income taxes, loans, etc.Bottom line is that this is a business, requiring all the skills and assets and expenses necessary for all businesses.

This is not how the $500k really works, in more than one way, but it's another topic altogether. 

Ignoring the tax lien altogether.

To be honest, unless your area has super relaxed laws, I would either negotiate the unit to be vacant prior to acceptance or just skip it altogether.

If one had multiple buildings they could be moved to another building to get away from the problem altogether.  

@Kyle ScholnickI agree with you that the numbers presented on many turn-key companies' listings can be way too optimistic, if not unrealistic altogether.