My guess is the answer boils down to: how much $ to do it, how long will it take to finish, how much rent will lost (if any), how much can I increase the rent with these improvements!

Most properties are selling well above assessment so its just kind of an educated guess based off her thoughts and the assessment. 

@Don Ireland Depends on the local authority I guess.

I understand that I'm building no equity in a home and things but I guess its the question why buy when I dont really have to...

 Well, she doesn’t have to have her name on title, but guess what....she will likely have to sign off when you sell it anyway.  

It took the guess work out of the process and if anything goes wrong, she will be there to back me up.

I guess one thing that is good is that our duplex is in one of the best neighborhoods.

I’m guessing the “two other owners” either got an unrecorded deed from the seller or someone other the real owner signed a fraudulent deed with these two guys....a scam probably copied from our local south FL boys.It seems incredibly odd that the title co would suggest your lender foreclose, if they feel they made a legitimate sale.I don’t think I’ve ever “followed” a post, but I will this one.

I guess I haven't used newspapers and I just tell all the neighbors.

If that's the case, I guess I don't have the stomach for it.