The tax deed is issued by the Sheriff to the high bidder at the tax sale and actually conveys title to the property subject to certain redemption rights you mentioned.  

One of the benefits of a cash out mortgage is the ability to obtain a fixed rate loan that will not be subject to an increase in market rates.It really comes down to what makes the most sense for you. 

It's important to figure out what your business strategy is, and what your value-add proposition is.I know that folks have been successful in each one of these niches in Philly real estate, just depends on what you are looking to do (in no particular order and just off the top of my head, I'm sure that I'm leaving a bunch out): low-income rentals, luxury rentals, flips, vacant land speculation, new construction, section 8/PHA rentals, wholesaling, wholetailing, bird dogging, turn key sales, property management, construction management, financing expert, zoning expert, title expert, business procedure consulting, hard money lending, seller financing, buying subject-to, syndicating deals, 1031 exchange scout, retail sales, etc.Personally, I've set up a pretty decent rental portfolio over the last few years, that's what made sense for my investing goals and setup. 

People are more likely to talk to you if they think you have something to offer - in a hot market, off market listings are appealing.

My contract states deed transfer is subject to loan approval. 

If it is financed you could do a "subject to" or assumption but you need to get a lawyer so you don't violate DTPA or Dodd Frank. 

I would suspect you would see lower rates on a commercial with similar fees the biggest difference is that you would be subject to a 5-year rate adjustment and a 5 or 10-year balloon. 

I understand that the market as of today in this area is HOT and not many deals are found on the MLS, but I want to continue to assess the surrounding areas of properties being listed as well as running the numbers to get a better feel.

If current title is tenancy in common, then both your grandmother and mother will not be pleased to hear that their estate will be subject to probate.

I found some legal language I implemented into our month to month lease agreement which basically stated, any guest staying longer than 2 weeks in any 6 month period will be considered a tenant and subject to a $50.00 per week "guest fee."