It is important to consult with a legal professional or financial advisor to fully understand the implications of assuming the mortgage and how it may potentially affect your financial and legal responsibilities in the event of unforeseen circumstances such as her mother requiring care.

Hey @David Caddy, I understand your frustration, and that's why I encourage beginners to set realistic expectations from day one.

Sometimes people don't understand that getting a househack duplex in a solid B area is a great move, but certainly not sexy!

Yours might be but that's uncommon overall.If you've never had a claim that's great but it's not really relevant to the discussion.Do you understand how partial losses work and what loss settlement provisions you have on your policies? 

Understand where the bottleneck in your renovation is and hammer it out.- It's cheaper to fly friends and family in who know what they are doing, pay for their food and flight, and get help then hire it out.

1st off- Kudos for your enthusiasm to tackle a difficult problem; adopting new materials and building science understanding on really old structures.Success levels for energy retrofitting will be directly tied to the level of "gutting" you do to the old house, especially trying to add a vapor design and passive ventilation retrofit. 

I understand it is from family, but I would still always recommend getting title insurance.

I don't think you understand the liability implications of what you are doing. 

I don't understand how the workers could have done this and then just left.

Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.What else can we assist you with?