Which takes a tiny fraction of any one day, once a year.

My big questions would be: Why are they selling (hoping for a motivated seller), and why is this property a fraction of the other properties in the area, and what are the comparable duplexes selling for?

January 2016 Houston Housing StatsHouston Real Estate Highlights in January Single-family home sales declined 2.1 percent compared to January, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline;Total property sales were unchanged at 4,965 units;Total dollar volume was statistically flat at $1.2 billion;At 262,663, the single-family home average price reached its highest level ever for a January;At $200,000, the single-family home median price also achieved a January high;Single-family homes months of inventory climbed to a 3.3-months supply versus 2.5 months a year earlier;Townhomes/condominium sales rose 15.6 percent with the average price unchanged at $183,076 and the median price up 2.4 percent to $140,000;Leases of single-family homes rose 2.8 percent with rents up 4.2 percent at $1,742;Leases of townhomes/condominiums climbed 12.2 percent with rents up fractionally to $1,568.

With all due respect, the cost of the education and maintaining a license is a very small fraction of what you can earn.  

One other possibility for you to maybe put in your back pocket is a fractional syndicated opportunity like a TIC or DST that could be used as a back up.  

I've looked at crowdfunding and may still tip my toe in but fractional ownership with little certainty of what happens when deals go south bother me.

I would love to retain occasional use of the condo so wondering if a fractional ownership makes sense.

Even the non-member price for it is just a fraction of what you're being quoted by the local lawyer. 

However, we are mostly using Converted Shipping Containers for a fraction of the cost, and they are built to last much longer than your Home Depot "shed" Depending upon the type of portable units you choose, the cost per square foot will vary Greatly, and delivery charges.  

The series LLC for DE was about $860 all in but that included expediting fees charged by the state to assure the LLC was fully setup within two weeks.I ultimately chose the series LLC because it allows me to separate each house or DBA into a separate series which has all of the advantages of creating a separate LLC just without all the paperwork and at a fraction of the cost.Good luck