I personally prefer a legal position involving deeded ownership or secured lien position; however almost any real estate activity can be profitable given the right set of circumstances.

The landlord will not report me because the rent is still getting payed by my very high income roommates.

Im looking to get involved with one within a 100 mile radius or so. 

If they reduce price by the cost of the expenses plus a little bit for time it is the same property that you were willing to buy and hold except a lot of things will be brand new and less likely to break in the near future.In terms of negotiating don't expect much more than the contractor's bid off the purchase price if these sellers aren't too emotionally involved. 

View report *This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

Those that are found are reported to Zoning Enforcement."  

Then others started to get involved and that is when he saw his investments start to move forward. 

View report*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.Hey BiggerPockets,I have found a potential deal on a multi-family in Chicago that may cash flow but unfortunately is in a C-neighborhood (and also right next to a major metro airport so maybe noise factor will be bad). 

certified appraisal) $30 credit report $15 flood certification $400 appraiser's fee $400 doc prep Approximately $450 for a full appraisal from our pool of third party certified appraisers.

At the same time because of  the smaller scale of everything involved with smaller places, at a certain level (e.g. studio) you may not be able to find a high-quality management company that is willing to take on the property because the fee vs labor time ratio may not be worth their time.