This was done to protect senior citizens on fixed incomes from being forced to sell their homes due to unaffordable property tax increases.Since the passing of this amendment, all properties in Michigan have two property tax values associated with them:State Equalized Value (SEV): supposedly equal to 50% of the market value of a property, not based on recent sales price.Taxable Value: the SEV annually capped as long as there is not a transfer of ownership.City Assessors are charged with determining how much property values have changed each year.

I had plenty questions when I was determining if I wanted to send him my money, and I was able to talk with him directly very easily.

Did you determine the ARV before buying it cash?

Closing Costs – Remember to factor in refi fees and how long you plan to hold the property to determine if refinancing will save you money overall.Since you mentioned owning the property for only a year, your equity might still be limited, impacting your options or leading to higher costs.

But he had security on site during rehab taking ID's etc.. he determined a lot of the theft was from the workers who knew exactly what was installed during the day and stolen at night.. 

Also the value (in this case) is determined by the NOI, so assuming it will be worth 2x, is assuming your NOI is thru the roof (which is can be, but it's not likely in the first 5 years).

the courts will determine it goes with whoever is staying.  

The most likely options are exchanging:Life insurance for life insuranceLife insurance for endowmentLife insurance for non-qualified annuityPersonally, I would first determine what type of exchange you want to do. 

I think dismissing potential ideas on the basis of them being too complicated is an awful mentality and I would rather know exactly why it wouldn't work or a path that would make it work and then decide for ourselves if it's worth it or not based on the steps it would take.

But young, broke, and hungry lots of times has the future in their eyes, their motivated and determined.