His position is still protected since any winning bidder takes title subject to the senior lien and the senior lienholder retains his right to FC in case the new owner fails to fulfill the obligations of the senior lien.

From my understanding of the Indy market, duplexes are typically in tougher neighborhoods, and can be challenging to manage - keeping and retaining good tenants.  

My two constraints are that I want to pull some cash out of it for that other down payment, and I want to retain some portion of that real estate if at all possible.

The seller entity (in Illinois) can retain their own lawyer.

Paying a 20% retainer is more reasonable only if materials are included in the job estimate. 

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My husband and I own one rental property that is managed by a third party, but we are looking to continue to invest in additional properties while we retain our full time employment. 

I could not possibly buy and keep everything even at this point of my investing.There are ways to structure deals where the property can be sold and an interest retained, and I have done that in several different ways mostly with options and equity participation agreements, but every once in a while, a huge cash infusion to the business from a retail flip puts the conscious at a whole new level of 'piece of mind.'

Capex may refer to the item itself like hot water heaters, roof's, appliances, etc - i.e. big ticket items that don't require monthly recurring replacement but also Capex can refer to the account or monies retained from proceeds for future (replacements).   

The $500 or so a month I would make retaining them and paying a property manager wasn't gonna cut it as my only income for several months!