But both should only invest what they can afford to lose.  

@Julie J.My recommendation would be to wait until you can afford a home with traditional financing.

Each situation, even the frustrating ones, is a chance to learn and grow.

This can be time consuming and frustrating to keep track of.

That way you are an alternative rental option for those that cannot afford a single family home.

That’s why I invested in rentals—to have a safety net.I'm not exactly sure where you're at, but if your current situation is causing frustration or stress, there’s no shame in selling a property to free up capital.

If you fear it and fail to plan you will end up in debt and frustrated.

This ultimately why the $100k midwest single family homes are frequently discussed in these forums.....its what many are able to afford to buy.

If that doesn’t get a response, you could offer to split the cost since it’s a shared liability.If they still don’t respond, you might have to handle it yourself for peace of mind — as frustrating as that is.

And unless you have very deep pockets, you can't afford to be that much off....So as has been said....hire a very experienced General Contractor and have them give you a budget number based on your SOW, (plus they will find other things that need to be done that you will not have seen).On your succeeding projects, you do a budget yourseld first, then hire the GC and compare numbers.Then, eventually you will be comfortable going all solo...but it takes time.