If you have one, great, but if not my recommendation would be to only bill for damage that occurred after you took possession.

In addition to a cleaning company, you also need a handyman or someone who can respond to fix small problems that might occur.

Even someone that knows the market very well can still get it wrong because there's no guarantee growth will occur the way you project, no matter how well you know the market.

Your leasing fee might not occur every year. 

You can borrow to invest in the stock market, people don't because companies can lose 100% of their value, housing does not have this problem, because while depreciation can occur, a catastrophe like a fire, hurricane etc. has insurance.2.

If there is an overage from foreclosing the mortgage (overage occurs when the foreclosure sale brings in more than is owed on the note that you bought), the excess money goes first to pay off the lien, then to each heir according to their percentage of ownership. 

In short, my financing came from an action that I wasnt pursuing as an avenue for financjng... it had never occurred to me.

Again, I'm guessing at all of this...but I have a feeling that something like that is occurring. 

I would make sure that you explain to your brother the potential issues that can arise with "subject to" and lay out your exit strategies if they occur.

Currently fully leased but I will do some cosmetic improvements as vacancies occur.