This has forced us to move out of our apartment into my mother's basement so that we can cover the cost of the mortgage.Once this family member moves out we'd like to move in to do some renos.

I have tried several commercial lenders in town, but they all seem to want to force me to have skin in the game. 

You don't know if the applying tenant will be a good paying tenant, if they will cause trouble or just in general be a pain in the backside.Can you be forced to accept a tenant with an ESA if you have an existing tenant with allergies?

If they force appreciation by fixing the property up, it becomes worth more at market value.

Regardless of how savvy you are, education is a driving force and will be in the future.

But it seems like I could get both better forced appreciation AND better cash flow in another market (10 per cent would be nice). 

@Sean Cole  your comment on deed taking 8 to 12 months to record got me to thinking.in Atl when I was buying court house there it was routinely 60 to 90 days as I mentioned.but when I was lending in Detroit Circa 2002 that city was all messed up. and it would take our loans 30 to 60 days to get recorded.. and we had to buy gap insurance.. our loans were in force even if they did not show on public records..

Underlying economic forces lead the continuing rise in home prices: Demand exceeds supply in most cities, especially for entry-level housing.

I would say you could find a decent asset with a $50K budget, keep at least $5K in reserve for servicing fees, force placed insurance, property tax maintenance and possible foreclosure expenses should the borrower not be able or willing to resume their payment performance.

Plus it gives me a greater opportunity to force equity appreciation.Just remember when you make your offer that you must consider what your all-in costs will be.