Does the property have a lot of drive-by or is it on a dead-end and hard to find.  

You just have to put up with crooks, con artists, manipulators, the occasional prostitute, overdoses, break ins, riff raff, dead bodies, and every now and then the psychotic mutt renter.

I'm itching to turn this "dead" equity into more cashflow. 

I would set a lot of traps and regularly clean out the dead mice while waiting for the appropriate time to expire.

The question is, is Portland dead?

Does his being dead influence the situation at all regarding the lien from Capital One?

This makes it difficult to live in and flip but if you’re dead set on it , bring everything you would need for a camping trip.

See Wells Fargo: Financing foreclosuresWhen I was doing it, I see many investors going in circles looking for owners, who could be dead but no one bothered to probates the estate, sick and under care at nursing homes or like my MIL with relatives across the country, and not at home answering the phone.

I added 3 dead bolts and 2 new storm doors.

This is one of the most common threads/questions on here... rather than beating a dead horse and having the same convo that's happened a million times before, I'd suggest using the search function for "LLC" and "due on sale."