Or better yet, try and strike a deal with the taxing authority, maybe settle for less, and tell your friend you’ll take the house and take care of the taxes.

@Nicki HardDepending on your mortgage agreement the transfer of the underlying property will usually trigger the due on sale clause that will make the lender ask you for a balloon payment all of the principal and interest due.Some type of loan will authorize a transfer to an LLC where you are the sole member.One option to get around it is by transferring the property to a land trust where you are still the beneficiary.

When we do a sub-to deal, we get the seller to sign power of attorney forms giving my (management) company 3rd party authorization to speak with the lender and insurance companies. 

Make sure your PM knows the ins and outs of the local Housing Authority.

According to the author:"If you have cash flow from another source and you are paying income taxes now, you can start buying better located, more expensive houses.

I haven't invested out of town (yet), but the BP-authored book by David Greene seems like a logical spot to start reading and learning more about it. 

In addition to the comments above about resources to determine market rents, i also use Hotpads and GoSection8 (Housing Authority marketplace.Hotpads lets you see what is advertised in the surrounding areas and allows us to look through the pictures to see what has been done to the properties.

I watched them all, then found the book he co-authored, Commercial Real Estate for Dummies, online, so I bought it and read it.

After all, the author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" did this primarily.I know next to nothing about real estate investin.

Pick one marketing tactic and become the authority in that method.