Hi Karter,Experience definitely helps and is sometimes necessarily for heavy rehab projects, but there are still options for you as long as you have enough reserves and credit qualifies.

If it were, the first thing everybody should do is read their contracts to make sure they aren't going to be paying their opponent's legal bills if they lose... because they add up quickly when demand letters are sent.But based on what I've heard so far, I believe this goes back to what public record was at the time of OP's purchase. 

I'm of course going to ask the owner if the unit is legally a triplex and I did confirm on atlas.phila.gov that it is RM-1, which is good but wanted to see how I can confirm through online records that it indeed has 3 units and not 2.

Cash flow is not guaranteed.Similar those who believe a negative cash flow property is not an investment are not using the most common definition of investment which is an expectation of profit.  

Time and Money CommitmentsTo get a real estate license, you will definitely need to sacrifice some time and money.

Anyway, it definitely applies to many other areas beyond roofing.  

Once that's set, it's really not a super difficult thing to run--the biggest deal for most people is needing to be married to your phone in a way that other RE investments don't require, because you always have to be able to answer inquiries and accept bookings, and if you're not fast enough, people will often move on to other listings.You can definitely self-manage properties remotely, but it is necessary to have some kind of boots-on-the-ground help, whether for maintenance or even just helping guests with occasional issues that pop up (confusion about TV cable box remotes, etc.).

I suppose legally you could, if you fully disclosed the non arms length nature but, no lender in business, or wanting to stay in business would do it.At the end of the day, what you want, while it may make sense to you and your parents, just isn't a scenario that happens.  

This sounds like it could be a great opportunity and the fact that you already have renters in place is definitely a plus! 

I definitely recommend a good insurance policy for any coastal property you buy.Good luck on the search!