I have been a silent participant, consuming a lot of information like the podcasts, forums etc.

The bad news, it seems to me, is that you've probably grossly underestimated the project you've gotten yourself in to (There is no such thing as a 100+ year old structure that requires anything other than deeply involved, technical work)Making matters worse, if your 'partner' has put his own money into the project, and is due some kind of compensation... and you don't have a clear contract... buying him out and putting the project on the right track is going to be costly, time consuming, and painful.But, as a wise man once told me - both pain and pleasure are magnified by delay. 

Sub2 may be considered an extension of credit, as it's an installment sale to a consumer buyer.  

Probate leads are just pretty challenging and time consuming to pick up in Charleston SC!

Equity is financed, not cash.Wraps, sub-to pass legal and equitable title with an agreement to pay any underlying mortgage to obtain title clear of the liens.Contract-for-deed passes only equitable title, not legal title, they are also loaded with issues since new consumer laws and foreclosure laws have been adopted.

Just time consuming. 

Not only that, they most likely have food items and medicine that need to be wasted unless they consume them all or take it with them during their brief "vacation".How would you compensate your tenants?

Don't go it alone initially...it can be time consuming and very expensive. 

As commercial, you can finance the option price, which isn't allowed in residential consumer transactions. :)

Leaving the tedious time consuming work for an assistant while you focus on the major tasks.Thanks