After deliberating I decided to have the property appraised prior to making improvements and figured id get the appraisers opinion rather my proposed upgrades would increase the properties value.

I've slowly been researching how to get started in this business that frankly I have no prior experience in whatsoever and after weeks of reading articles and listening to podcasts I realized that there is only so much value I can get from that information without actually getting out there and experiencing it so I decided I have to get started.So far I have registered with iFlip and got my squeeze pages set up allowing me to build my buyers list and I'm working on sending out my first batch of yellow letters to attract motivated sellers.

Do you get permission from the seller prior to taking the property to the auction?

It depends of the state and any pending law suit may have claims that may remain, however the suit needs to be accomplished, judgment made prior to that sale I'd think, but get to an attorney, there is more to look at than title. :)

The fact that the interior is freshly painted makes it much harder to see evidence of prior termite activity (same with the "new" floors).

Then, you could do some "rehab" using some of your $50K in stocks to get it to pass an inspection by the bank prior to applying for a mortgage.As far as taxes go, if you become an owner occupant, you might be able to reduce the taxes with some exemptions like homestead.

My realtor (whom I really like, by the way) tells me that it would be very difficult to get each seller to produce the swath of paperwork required during the approval period prior to submitting an offer.

Just set the values as customary, the best argument is the % of sale price in it's as is condition, then adding improvements made to the building side as described.Now, had we considered Pat's suggestion prior to the purchase, may be something could have been done that better suited the situation, but not with related members are probably not with a few residential units as that isn't common.

You definitely want a new lease signed between you and the tenants immediately after closing unless there is a lender requirement that you must have one prior to closing.

prior to approval, maybe they would approve adding a buyer, but it will take the bank's okay.