Investor needs to somehow recoup their initial investment of $29k + whatever would have made this deal worth it for them.Heck, maybe I could just do 50/50 partners and hold the properties for life together and still be $0 in the deal. 

Do you find it's worth the higher cost and additional hoops to jump through?

Remember to back it out as a business expense too which should make the real rate a point or two lower depending on your tax bracket.2) For securing loans, I incorporate the value stated on balance sheets within my personal financial statements.

Well worth it when managed well.

Insurance, taxes, utilities, and maintenance costs are all going up and this helps your tenant remember that houses have to be maintained.If you renovate one side and rent it for $400 more, then I recommend you renovate the other side and increase rent on that as soon as possible.

As they say, your network will be your net-worth.7.

If there's sufficient equity in any of your properties, it's worth considering the potential returns from deploying that capital elsewhere.

Maybe I should get my money's worth..

You can try and go to the seller but its gonna be too late and cost you more to chase the money than what it is worth.

Quit claim deeds are not worth the piece of paper they are written on.