If you plan on being a buy and hold investor then you should be prepared to handle capex events on all of your properties.

From what the attorney said after speaking with the title insurance company the lien was put on in 2018 + 15 years.

if you plan to use it as a 2nd home as well as lease it out, conventional loan will allow you to just put 10% down. 

I would guess that gets wiped out, but I would check with a CA title attorney who is going to help you resolve this and issue title insurance for you on the resale in the future.Some chance also this never goes to sale if there is a mortgage on the property. 

I plan on doing more research on Bigger Pockets, but any overall advice is great. 

@Ryan SummersThere are several considerations that can go into the analysis of whether you need an LLC or whether a large insurance policy will suffice.

We are definately planning at refinancing as the next step but need to resolve the partnership before that.

Yes a judge can still proceed with the sale even with a suggestion of BK and the only way a judge can stop it typically is if the borrower files a temporary restraining order, which lasts 15-30 days and must be a valid reason - the reason of "I am going to file BK" is not a valid reason to give a TRO as the borrower can file BK and then has time to complete submitting their plan. 

My friend and I plan to partner up for this REI journey.

I was looking for an individual that may have more experience in my specific market that can offer suggestions or advice with my projected plans.