You may also want to investigate your municipality’s exact rules on who owns/maintains that particular space.  

@Sam Stolt...sorry for the real late reply....been on vacation :)If you have an insurance claim and the adjuster sees something that makes them question if something was done out of code, they may investigate it and if they find its was not done to code or w/o permit, they could deny the claim....they would have a good case to deny it.... depends on the insurance company.My own personal experience...... my own residence..... had 2 small room additions that we knew at the time of purchase were not done with permits, but were very basic and we had no code concerns...... 6 years after purchase we got a call from the city...wanted to know if we ever finished the work that had an initial permit pulled on...never got final inspection or approval....... turns out the original owner had started a permit for an "enclosed patio".... they then built full on room additions.

I will mention it once more, you are landlord/investor - not the ethics police, nor the bickering police, nor an investigator - aside from property maintenace issues and rent, nothing else is your resposibility nor should you involve yourself in issues other than these. 

@Tony Gaultney price points can be enticing but vacancy rates/tenant turnover can be rough on investment properties, so its good to work with a great property manager on the demand and quality of tenants and job outlook to be sure vacancy and bad tenants don't swallow your cash flow...also be sure to investigate the properties to determine major capital expenditures needed in the first few years.

Thanks all- I was not looking for the benefits of a 1031 exchange but will investigate further (with an attorney if need be) regarding the land trust.

You should *definitely* do your own investigating before taking anybody else's insistence!

I have a property with an easement held by the Southern California Telephone Company dated 1943.  My understanding is this company was purchased by ATT.  The easement is inhibiting the usability of the land.  Does any...

I'm bringing in temporary rental housing to cover expenses while investigating building the first permanent home.

Local insights and networking:Utilise websites such as Realtor.com, Redfin, and Zillow to investigate past statistics, market trends, and real estate listings.When you combine the data from these phases, you will have a thorough understanding of possible investment locations.

Because I need to act fast on the deal, there won't really be time to thoroughly investigate how to provide access.