Out of curiosity, are you still moving in the direction of real estate investing?

They were likely aware of the lien, but did not anticipate how large the late fees or legal fees had accrued. 

We certainly did not accrue the capital we needed, but it taught us an important lesson about VCs and Partners: If you are truly prepared to stand behind an awful idea, you should also be fully prepared to fund it yourself!

Factors include the wording of the original agreement, when the original debt was due, how it was billed, and if the tenant ignored the bills and let them accrue.

of accuracy sparks my curiosity.

I’ve always had a curiosity about real estate but it wasn’t until this year, or rather this month, that I really truly considered making a full career shift toward it. 

The transactional aspect is appealing, as well as the ability to accrue cashflow, which is my goal. 

I expect I'll accrue a bunch of tax losses which I can start taking (using the $25k rule) once I start renting the property for a full calendar year.Now for my actual tax questions:Will I regret doing the repairs before actually getting a renter, i.e. should I post it on Craigslist before I start paying for these repairs so it doesn't get classed as start-up expenses? 

The lien is accruing interest at a nice rate as well... plus attorneys fees are soon to follow. 

And just out of curiosity, if you did well why don't you continue with buying tax deeds?