Elise, I actually found what you are talking about, that is a new law this year, i have not been charged this. my PM belongs to all kinds of organizations and would have known about this, but has not said anything. i am going to have to send this to her and my accountant to find out about it.

Those people are claiming his belongings as their own and their stories do not add up at all. 

This house has been unoccupied for a year and still has some belongings inside.

If they belong to a tenant perhaps tell them to move them.I'm assuming the chairs belong to the tenants.

The same night ( she had never really moved in) she went back to the apartment and removed all of her belonging.

Typically that can be done by phone, but occasionally it can be handy to belong to an investor club where someone local can drop by to squeeze the information out of a difficult source.The critical data for equity investments is primarily vacancy increases and rental income drops.

Est likely means ESTATE of.....as in the former owner has passed...and the house belongs to the estate of that person or their heirs.   

When you closed on the sale, the paperwork belonged to you and should have been handed over with the keys, security deposits, etc.

I‘ve found a list of permits but it’s almost useless because you’ve got to look up each address for every permit issued which is very time consuming.I’m buying my first home to house hack and I just want to make sure I’m buying in an appreciating market.Btw, I’m new to BP so I’m not sure if this post belongs in this forum or not, excuse me if it doesn’t.

It's usually around 2 years with potential to extend in 1 year increments.The issue is that 5 years might not be long enough to breakeven on the improvements you plan on making.