I saw it mentioned in another post that I can get the property appraised at the time I convert it to a rental to establish a rental property cost basis - I would like to confirm that this is applicable to my situation. 2) (if question #1 is possible) I am not sure where I will want to live next, so am considering renting a room closer to work for several months before making a longer term purchase or lease commitment.

I will slowly repair this property and will break even but I have a commitment to the community and want to be part of the solution.

Thinking about this from the passive investors shoes, committing money to a buy and hold project is great if I get paid my standard rate of return, but I may not be able to get my principle out of the deal for quite some time.

The non-committed sibling finally calls me and complains that the rep, who she doesn't even know, is making false claims about her losing the property if she doesn't sign NOW and other high pressure tactics.I calmly answer her questions, invalidate the false claims made by the rep and soothe her concerns.

Contractor so far won't agree to a short sale nor will he commit to buying the home for the amount owed me, though he did express interest in that.

Zero to little appreciation and high property taxes are huge drains on any long term commitment and for me, investing in both cities I consider big mistakes in my early investing career.

They'll make that commitment to you as long as you show a sincere commitment to them.

Anyone with a willingness and commitment to learn and succeed can do anything they desire, even starting out with no money, no credit, being young, and the JOB of raising a young family.

This is my understanding, and it may well be incorrect or incomplete.Have you already committed to buy the property?

While it's not put on the deed (not a deed restriction), you are committing fraud if you sign the short sale approval with intent to resell in less than 90 days.I have no idea if they enforce it or not, though I'm guessing it's more of an issue of whether they can find out or not.