Seems to me she would give up expense deductions but also taxability of the money while preserving her full 121 exclusion.

I was leaning towards using private money to preserve my $45,000 to buy my parents house.

Example:IRA starting: $200,000Purchase property: $180,000IRA remaining: $20,000Repairs needed before being able to rent/lease property: $60,000What are legitimate (IRA-tax-status preserving) ways to get the work done?

I'm coming at this using Goldmoney as a wealth preservation tool.

Reasons that bid exceeds published judgment (amounts for these listed items get included in the lender's bid):Sheriff's cost Sheriff's poundage (a sort of commission to be paid to the sheriff based on dollar amount of highest bid)Transfer taxesProperty taxesMunicipal service liens (utilities and rental licenses for example) or delinquent amountsCode enforcement citationsRe-assessment of judgment (additional payments and interest from actual date of published judgment amount)Property preservation costs (winterizing, lawn care, board up, re-keying, etc. for a vacated property)Additional legal feesThat is not an exhaustive list - but once you start thinking of what gets included into the lender's bid, it becomes easy to see why the lender's auction bid can exceed the published debt / judgment amount. 

Big Hat Rich Landlord is getting sued.Proper entity structuring won't preserve your assets if you really did something horrible and deserve to be sued- but it will keep attorneys of the "ambulance chasing" variety away from you like a hot tin roof to a cat!

The ceilings are the old popcorn..so I've tried to preserve what's there and get rid of the older stuff and blend in over time...would be ideal to take all down with no tenant.

It is a marine preserve and the water is very clear.

I would definitely look around and preserve your capital.

I would have immediately changed the locks anyway, as who wants lock where 30 or so local preservation/inspector personnel have the key?