Some liens can be easily removed, where as state and federal liens are not easily removed.

@Andrew Steffens I think we've been able to avoid cheap owners by taking on the expense of many of these consumable supplies, which effectively removed them / their spending philosophies from the equation.

Do I have to remove all the money from those accounts and start over?

For instance, one property seems to have an extra bathroom that is not listed in the county records.I plan to make some modifications, including removing a closet wall to expand a bathroom and taking out a kitchen island that contains electrical outlets and a switch.

I forgot to mention the chimneys/fireplaces are not operational and will only be kept for cosmetic purposes, and I don’t want to spend the money to completely remove them.  

Even a typical water heat replacement would set you back signficantly.There's plenty to the puzzle that i am unaware of but with what you've outlined here i would consider passing on the property.you know you need managementyou know you need to remove at least one tenantyou know cashflow is meager after considering management.i personally wouldn't recommend a client take on the risk for such a paltry pay out out of state.Even when considering long term appreciation the average amount of headache one assumes with a property will bog you down before the long term play pays off.

As I'm moving through the house cleaning everything, I'm better able to notice what needs to be removed/replaced, and every other little defect.

The few that I looked at but didn't buy would have had to have all of the wood removed and anything else that smelled of smoke.

I would have ran out of capital on property #2 if I didn't loosely follow the BRRRR strategy.

Please at all costs do not commit mortgage fraud based on the advice of someone who will deny they ever spoke to you about any such thing if all hell breaks loose