Newbie here looking for advice:While I saved up cash for real estate, I didn't want the money just sitting in a .05% interest rate savings account, so I moved it to a brokerage account and invested in relatively safe large cap stocks to earn a better return than a savings account.

They even offer free classes in real estate related law that I think are open to the public.

My rule is problems related to temperature, water or fire all get immediate attention.

Set news alerts for those terms, and for the Phoenix metro area in general since it's all so closely related, and within a month or two you'll be a walking encyclopedia of facts, figures and trends.

I’ve been involved a couple of construction related suits, it’s never fun, and you’re not likely to be happy with the outcome.  

That said, they can do very little to prevent you from having a “roommate” or havIng a relative live there - you’ll have to find a tenant willing to support that they are sharing the unit with you if questioned and you could draft a roommate “share” agreement rather than a lease for that fIrst year.

You’re best bet is to work with your cpa to make the transfer and your attorney to draw the recourse / 1st position papers for your relatives.

This is one of the reasons I invest in Detroit, and to date I have not made a single investment in Detroit that has returned anything less than 100% on my investments in a relatively short period of time.

Good relations with neighbors also helps, but there's not much you can do about that from OOS. 

Sounds like the foundation issues do not relate to OP's unit... and that an insurance claim was in process when he closed.