.- I heard that tenants often do not pay their portion of the rent- If the tenant damages the property, there's no money to go after. 

Would be interested if anyone has any experience with temporarily shutting down a fireplace on a rental property and how they handled the front-facing portion.

@Rana Zaheer: It's typical for an investor to sell to another investor agreeing to settle the monetary portion of the violations only, or provide a credit for same, without curing the underlying issue that caused the violation. 

Tenants will pay all CAM, and I can even try to bill them a portion of the property taxes.

Become a subject matter expert for the portion of real estate investing you're interested in.Focus on what you can change/control, and the rest will follow.

I am afraid I won't get even close to a portion of the amount I need for cash out if I refinance. 

The house is in good condition, ~ 20 years old, and but in a quiet suburb (20 minutes away from some major attractions).Here are the questions:- I can afford to buy my sister's portion but can I / should I put a mortgage down on her side?

@Joey Allison Just curious, how did you come up with a value for your portion. 

Should I return a portion of the deposit of the roommate leaving?

It could use some shrubs to make it more inviting (pic with the pitched portion of your roof in the right side).