If she hasn't given you the deposit back in a timely manner, as per your state law, then I bet you can google her and find out where she lives in some way.

There are a lot of note buyers on this site that are quite active if you put this question in the right spot I bet you get all your answer done for you.

People were buying houses despite the negative cashflow betting that they'd sell eventually and make a ton of money on the appreciation regardless of the short term cash loss.  

@Remus Phillips Your best bet is to shop around at local (or at least regional) banks.

I think i just take the pro-rated 8 months of depreciation in 2016 (for both actually) but when using one of the automated web services to do my taxes, i get a warning talking about net gain or loss Form 8829 , referring me to 8549, and form 4797.  

It's my turn to give him a smirk and ask when he'll pay off the bet.

Many of those that do have a college degree majored in an unrelated subject.You aren't the only one struggling with this, I'll bet 90% of the people on this site struggle with the same issues.I see you're in CA. 

But i think real estate is a safe bet until the next black swan event anyway.

If you are not a realtor, using Zillow or Yelp will be your best bet.

I would think that assuming that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to bring them up to code, that might be your best bet.