The easiest of these is finding a house with an unfinished basement.

If the tenant doesn't already have a wall mount I tell them that I will purchase it for them as a move in gift. 

Home Depot was easy to work with and they ended up lowering their initial price for my kitchen from 2900 to 2100 and gave me a $200 Home Depot gift card for the number of problems we had with missing parts.

My priority is always always rehab/live  for primary in Bay Area because that’s the easiest way of making money with much less risk  ….if you have three primary in Bay Area would be enough for decades.for me I would not buy Sacramento/Fresno when I can buy 3-4 in Bay Area.

I don't like the terms and would try to avoid.We could still do a conventional loan and if I'm not mistaken it'd be this whole "gift money" thing so the shared ownership wouldn't be recognized legally.

Adding some artwork to help give the place more character - $100-200 on Etsy or Society6 can get you some really unique prints that will help your apartments show well in listing pics and really set them apart from the competition.If you have the space outdoors, the quickest and easiest amenities to add are a fire pit and BBQ grill (or maybe a patio as well, if you're so inclined). 

The easiest way to avoid the licensing issues is to simply lend money, or buy paper on investment properties. 90% of the states do not require a license to originate, lend, or buy and sell paper if the subject property is Non Owner Occupied, ie: Business Purpose Real Estate, ie Investment Property. 

Let me share my story.As the title suggests, I received a house as a gift from my father-in-law upon getting married.

Their real target is executive compensation disguised as interest-free loans and large family gifts disguised as interest-free loans.

If the only debt problem is the mortgages, attempting a short sale would be the easiest way out of this, with the fastest recovery time.