Markets that experience this generally realize a sudden appreciation event over a short time period and then the appreciation levels off or slows. 

The idea here is to pay off the principal of the $700,000 over the four period then when I get a loan for the remainder $550,000 it would be more affordable.

Perhaps you can just continue the payments until caught up and then record your deed.

I lived there 7 months while updating, then moved out so it’s now a rental What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Some county's seize the property and then they actually auction off the property in a tax defaulted auction.

Run different scenarios, use the information you have and then make it worse case.  

Having said this, you would then be responsible for everything that needed to be re-piped inside the house to run to the new meters and would have to meet with the town/city engineer for inspection. 

Hey @Henry Lazerow - I would tend to agree that most of the NW side of Chicago 2-4 units don't play out perfectly well for BRRRR deals.I always looked at any potential house hack vs. having to rent - if my overall payments were less than the rent I generally considered that a win.For me...the house hack is just the ticket into the amusement park and then the fun rides come after...getting started can be overwhelming and hard so I can see why people might take a discount.I think one of the keys to strong equity creation is square footage creation which is basically what you outlined with duplexing up or down.

I would get the highest APY with the lowest up front fees possible and then refinance in a year or two. 

So it's up to you if you want to go through the hassle of the court system, then probably going through the process of garnishing wages.