You don't want any bad blood with a tenant before you become the owner. 

I keep trying to tell him that the fact that I am a blood relative could change the process; I don't know if the government would see this as him gifting me the house. 

The zoning is not really the issue, moreso ingress/egress, circulation, setbacks... some other requirements by code for building a building on a very small lot.

My husband works for a lab and does research on blood.  

Hey @Bill Gulley Yes I do plan on getting an attorney involved at some point but I want to know which direction I'm going before I start paying those blood sucking vultures by the hour. 

It sounds like there is enough of an arms length from you, who is not related by blood, to a mother of an in-law. 

@Mark B. oddly enough having given blood before through the Red Cross qualified me.

That's ok.Basically what you're seeing is sharks circling the smell of blood in the water.

Sometimes, my hot Italian blood wants to go down that road first too, but as you stated, we could end up getting screwed.Nice post.

The areas around the schools with grad students who treat the units well and most have partying out of their blood as they finish the final years to graduation.Then you have some rougher areas around Athens with higher caps but the tenants are more of a constant care thing to extract the rent.