@Lindsay FavazzaI did briefly speak to them, the broker I am with is a minimal assistance broker that does not really assign leads.

The increase of the basis will help you minimize the taxable gain when you eventually sell the house.

But to walk away, to know that the Man will never have a minute of my time again, an ounce of my attention for the rest of my life come what may...that's what I want, and I will work, lie, steal, cheat, and do murder with my bare hands in the dark to get it.

@Ben Sears - remember his heirs get free stepped up basis on death, so holding until death is a decent strategy for minimizing taxes.

The investors we work with take the approach that they want to get a minimal cash flow return as well as long-term appreciation (and mortgage pay-off from rents).I don't know about other markets, but Boise is challenging to find deals. 

I only invest in multi-family and don't let potential tenants with violent histories in my properties, but if you're comfortable with letting one of these tenants in I would check and see if either can get a co-signer as that will help minimize the low credit score and you can go after the co-signer (as well as the tenant) in the event there's an issue with rent or damage to the rental. 

Sounds like you got a pretty good deal going on right now and your able to make quite an income with your current job with minimal monthly expenses i presume so a mortgage payment that you can afford (do the math beforehand ) wouldn't be the end of the world for your income  especially if you had BOTH places rented out.

I just want to minimize the risk as much as possible and I think a lot of that is in the due diligence.

Starting small of course with a small flip with minimal work.

3/4 of the units were occupied at purchase, so the vacant one we rehabbed the kitchen, painted the walls and trim, and added some light to the dark spaces.