@Harrison Sharp   Unless your family member is the kind of person that would have a prepayment penalties you should be fine. 

A good title search, not the kind you get from a REO title co., should Definitely have done a “city lien search” which would be a specific inquiry to the city/county Specifically for unrecorded issues like this.

I am thankful for hearing about BP kind of by "chance".

thank you for your all kind response,!

I just kind of figured investors, even friends and family, would want some experience before they would put their own money into it. 

Thanks for all the replies....I think my mistake in the logic and looking at all those sites is just how you kind folks have pointed out..... being  that I won't be a typical homeowner looking to redo a kitchen or bath....so using those remodeling guidelines would be a mistake ......I appreciate the helpBruce 

These kind of leads can be great because no other investor is taking the time to find the owner and call them or the relatives.

Of course, there are all kinds of family dynamics to take in to account, but that is a risk only you can assess. 

I don't know if that's something you can really buy, rather it's something you can only earn.If you don't have that, you need a different kind of "in".

Being new to this I am estimating based on numbers I'm seeing from the BP calculators and from other posts I see for these kinds of things, trying to account for all eventualities as a "conservative" estimate hoping that I would have  expenses to cover the unexpected.I also appreciate your advice about managers and using a handyman as a proxy, paid hourly.Account Closed - Definitely not an equity play, just trying to understand how to make these numbers and deals make sense.