I know it's a major risk, but the county assures me they're primary lien holder and the only deed concern I would have to worry about is an IRS lien (the property doesn't have one).

Also its not a bad idea to assure them that you will be trying to make the transition as smooth as possible and if you are making any updates to the property right away to let them know that you will be improving the property.

The owner assured us that the tenant was a model tenant so we closed on the property (though we had to drill the locks in order to get an appraisal because the tenant stood the appraiser up 3 times). 

I assuredly don't want to be hammering nails in with guests here, so it is a happy problem. 

I assure those are not the only two options.

W.S. investing has it's place, and that place is not betting the farm and certainly NOT thinking it's a simple 8% annual return as sure as sun rises in east and set's in west. 

Section 8 would help assure the bills are covered.

There is this false notion out there that attorneys are highly restricted in suites, and I assure that is not the case, the reality is very opposite, attorneys have all kinds of options in suites, it's why you see commercials all the time for joining this or that class action.

So keep in mind that for the foreseeable future, you are probably going to have to disclose this to potential tenants, as surely they will learn about it from existing tenants, which is not a situation you want to be in either.

The latter is preferred so you get more cash at closing which you can then use to get the repairs started.With regard to bringing in a partner, I would prefer to bring in a partner now so that you're assured you have someone committed to do the deal with you.