There is still a senior lien that is not being paid and will eventually foreclose but given that you now have title you can take possession, turn on utilities, and rent the property out.

The idea of eventually owning multiple properties that produce a steady cash flow is extremely appealing, however, I understand that I have A LOT to learn. 

My family has been here for multiple generations and has always been very involved in the area, including on the real estate front, so I have deep roots in and love for the place, and come by my interest in real estate honestly :-) Professionally, I'm an interior designer specializing in high end residential design for successful, busy professionals, and aging-in-place/universal/accessible design, for those who either need it now or (preferably) want to plan ahead, just in case, knowing that at least 68% of us will be disabled in some way eventually, or who know they have some health issues for which they know they will eventually need to make some modifications to their homes if they want to continue to live there. 

Hi there I have a tenant who has been chronically late with rent since the lease began, first it was a week late, then 2 weeks, then a month...tenant pays eventually after multiple phone calls and reminders. 

But it is definitely in the plan to eventually leverage the properties.

However, I'm not seeing much information about the reverse scenario - when a homeowner wants to convert his/her property to a rental with the intention of doing a 1031 exchange ASAP (say, to increase ROI by converting a SFH to a multi), what's the length of time the property needs to be rented for it to be considered an investment? 

I was able to convert to gas and separate the utilities for the duplex. 

I am totally ignorant, in many ways actually, but specifically regarding how much it will cost to develop my idea into a working business.I want to eventually build 3-story apartment buildings for a new complex in an area that is not only nearly saturated in terms of occupancy, but in which I know, without any question, property management companies are creating my customer base daily.

I want to get into just about all I can, whether it be wholesaling, rental properties, and eventually fix and flips.

Currently I started with buy and holds in order to supplement and then eventually replace my job income.