I agree with the others that you can create a written lease that states she is the sole occupant, then kick your relatives out if they try to occupy.

@Greg Shows Many lenders won’t give a HELOC on a rental property, but there’s a lot of programs out there now.With that said the capital gains tax situation is piece to work around if you want to avoid/minimize that for your relatives.There’s several ways to go about it from buying the place with a conventional loan to doing a lease option with a strike price that follows your relatives declining principal balance on their loan.

I’ll be accounting for that in my numbers now.Yes, but with a FHA 203k loan you and your relatives can't be doing the work!

Your relative should have the instinct to know if he is playing his game. 

If your relatives leveraged 10 years ago then they did so in a great market.

I personally would not give somebody the money to buy a property, and then let them be the only name on the deed with the possibility they would blow me off and then keep the property.If your relative isn't okay with that, then I don't think you should give them a dime. 

I expect to come into some inheritance money in the next couple of years (it's in probate hell right now - if you want to get revenge on your relatives, leave a bunch of money and no will, and 7 heirs to fight over it).My background is in property management, and initially, I was thinking about buying a cheap rental, paying cash. 

rdeLocaleAttr=enI'm expecting an inheritance in the next couple of years (in probate - I swear, if you want to get revenge on your relatives, leave a bunch of money and no will) and am researching buying cheap homes for cash and selling them with owner-financing. 

Is the main reason you are interested in this property because it will help your relative with their tax situation?

Your desire to ensure that you are making the right decision and to request additional time to review the property are reasonable steps, especially given your relatively new status in the field.