You can get a home for $40K and rent it for $800 fairly easily but what if you buy a home for $55K?

Unfortunately (or fortunately) that information could probably fill dozens of books, and even then, I'm not sure there is a step-by-step procedure that will be foolproof.Part of the reason is that there are some things that can't be quantified very easily.

This then places you in the driver's seat in negotiating a "good deal" for you.

One thing to keep in mind is that St louis is right on the border w/ Illinois so equipment could have easily been purchased or stolen there too.

She would really be resetting her life back to the 20's, and that's tough to do.OTOH, if they have built up a nice fat nest egg and that's getting split, and she has a good paying job that easily qualifies for the new loan, and she's OK with continuing that until she decides what she wants to do with the rest of her life, doing the refi and staying put makes sense.As for your involvement?

Actually, it sounds like you are sitting in a very unique cat-bird seat and if you leverage all of your stated available resources, I don't see why you cant create a VERY successful enterprise for yourself in the Real Estate Industry.

How about the standard (easily understood) progression?

Sort of like a trampoline effect when you jumped on them (maybe not quite that bad but it was bad enough that you could easily see the ceiling bounce when you were downstairs in the living room and dining room.

Why pay for something you can do easily.

Therefore, the USA is now renown for undervalued, repossessed and easily renovated properties that may be worth much more if and when they recover.