They sell the place as quickly as possible and take a steep hit.

Although I did just do a quick google search for professional real estate photography and the prices are $100-$200.

She is in Buffalo, and can be there quickly to meet with people.

With this savings growing quickly, where should we keep our savings to get some kind of a return in the meantime while I crunch numbers, read books and absorb as much as I can before making that first decision?

If you have to go 100 feet, that's a quick $10K extra that needs to be added to the cost of doing the conversion. 

I tried to stay away from really small markets.Then I looked at what the average cap rate properties were selling for and chose the top 5 attractive markets from my remaining list.

I have a family member that is trying to sell their house quickly for whatever they can get.

In order to gain control of the property and to have a structure to attract more investors I'd like to have a record of assets that are owned by the company, which becomes difficult when the titles do not reference the company or any relationship with the company.  

I am ok with commuting up to 30 minutes, so the areas I've been looking has been from the mid Raleigh area (draw a line from NCSU through downtown) all the way down to Clayton, NC.My fear is purchasing a house which doesn't appreciate at all, having trouble selling quickly, or having trouble finding a renter to cover all costs of the house (including a property manager). 

A quick web search looks like Montana is pretty lenient on disclosure forms, but you should check with your local real estate experts to be sure.If a buyer learns of it I would certainly expect them to want a discount or to shy away from the property.