I think SF condos are a good bet for the long term, especially if you're living there..

The Note can be secured with a Mortgage (or Trust Deed) on the property.I suggest talking to a title insurance company or real estate settlement attorney to help walk you thru the paperwork.If you have a situation different than I've described, all bets are off. 

A lease option may be her best bet to get out of the property and move on.

To add to what Jon said, you might be able to bet on LUCK to keep your expenses down if you're only going to own one duplex.

I bet that you could get your rate fixed if you were really persistent.

It is down a lot this year, but I would bet sales will drastically rise as people are laid off, money gets tighter, and good ole Tomato Soup makes a strong comeback!

That is a much safer course of action for the buyer as well as the financier.

I bet if you ask a large subset of this forum what a typical operating expense is they will respond with 50%.

Your best bet is to have an engineer look at it.

I'd say that Steve's method is probably a better bet, unless the apartment building is garden style where you've got access to all the doors.