I think most folks deep down resent others making money.

Say the rent amount was discounted by $100-150/mo due to them signing clause xyz stating they'll manage the lawn.

If you have a tenant that deep fries a lot or cooks a lot with grease and doesn't use a proper range hood you can get residue on the walls.

Yehiel-  Don't discount the idea of looking at a property as if you were going to live in it (to a certain extent). 

A lot of men have this dream of buying a nice house at a discount and then make money on it.

depends what your goals are and how deep financially are you willing to go for 10-12 months

I've been able to secure contacts that will assist in future investments (inspector, contractor, substantial discounting for rehab necessary items).Is my thinking above logical (given cousin is agreeable)?

I was thinking that maybe I should just try to buy the note at a discount and have the owner deed me the house and I could wholesale the deal or keep it once I got a discount on the note.

Again you will not be able to see total damage until they move and it could take awhile to get them out.Yet another option is to try and buy the senior defaulted note for cash at a discount from the lender.

The reason is b/c the seller realizes the value of the homes potential as a business and is looking for top $ and therefore little to no discount.