HPU is surrounded by a 6-foot (or taller) iron fence and the only entrance is constantly manned by one or two guards in a guard booth. 

-central air register to the room- on the attic side, the sheet metal is wrapped in some kind of joint compound white stuff.

I find out the title is held as joint tenants and there are 3 IRS tax liens attached to the property.My question- his adult children want to “walk away”.

He's constantly talking about how you need to bring the skills you are good at into your real estate investing, and find others to fill in the gaps (and your own shortcomings)It has occurred to me that one of the big ways that I can still bring value added is through my architectural skills. 

I still want to get in on this deal because it is such an opportunity though.My idea is to approach the seller again and offer a joint venture where we leverage the home to secure a renovation line of credit.

If you're not willing to deal with challenging tenants, evictions, constant repairs, etc.

Every joint venture has some problems.

Just a heads up, there are a lot of older homes in the area with slab/foundation issues that may not necessarily be in a flood area but due to settling among others issues they can get constant water damage if they don't have a system set in place to prevent it.

Littoral rights, riparian rights, types of tenancy (joint, by the entirety, in common, etc), principle of accretion, how to calculate acres from a plot plan, calculating mortgage payments - none of these are useful in your practice.They said that the MA test is a 4 hour exam, but 35 minutes after I walked in to the testing room, I was out on the sidewalk with a license in my hand. 

Others start texting me constantly and emailing me constantly.