I would agree with JD Martin that is pretty cheap, especially the walls which usually involves drilling 2 holes every 16" between the studs.

Every situation is unique and there is not a one size fits all approach to protecting your mother's financial security, but there are some options that each has an upside and a downside to.

The experienced investors to be blunt...don't need a brand new person getting involved in real estate to try to "help" the experienced investor.  

It was not a pleasant experience for anyone involved.

Outside of real estate, I'm a business insurance broker working with small businesses, commercial realtors and anyone involved with serving businesses with less than $20M in sales.

Judgement, garnishment...that's going no where.I value my time at $300 per hour... so over the course of the next few months if you have 6-8 hours involved in chasing this money you will be close to breaking even..and that's before attorney fees.

I am an out of state investor and have bought a handful of wholesale properties in Columbus this year so might be interested if it fits with my portfolio. 

You may be finding it difficult to get an attorney involved because there is no money to be made on this issue.

But these certain qualities X, Y, Z make it bad so I'm passing.")The beginner material says "make sure a place fits your criteria" but I don't understand the search results.

On top of that, you cannot readily acquire lists of owners in "distress", so your methods would need to be tailored a little to fit the market.