Most people buying in Charlotte proper are either buying with heavy rehab or building on land. 

That covers pretty much everything from the studs up including the markup on labor / materials.

Further, I think you're saying the original owner also signed a modification raising the 1st mortgage balance without any notice to you, adding $25,000 to the cost you'll have to cover to obtain the home yourself in foreclosure? 

The NOI (Net operating income) needs to be sufficient to cover the payment and some amount of spread.To make the numbers simple lets pretend the payment on the 50K mortgage is $500/month and the 70K mortgage is 700/month (these are likely high numbers) if the rents minus expenses (excluding mortgage) net out to 750 then the 70K mortgage is pretty risky since there is only a $50 spread and the 50K mortgage is much less risky with a $250K spread. if these numbers held up I wouldnt buy the property at all unless I could get a 60K mortgage with a 600/month payment and have a spread of $150 and 10K in cash reserves. 

I think everyone covered what could’ve been said but I wanted to correct you on your statement regarding beginners luck to emphasize that it was far from that.

If you have it already included in your analysis then you are covered.  

This seems like a more affordable way to get into the market, but  I want to ensure all my bases are covered. 

The systems required to manage property on a small level can be covered with hard work and some brainpower. 

Your payment will simply be too high and your rent will not cover your mortgage payment (PI, AKA debt service) and all of your expenses (vacancy, PM, taxes, insurance, maintenance and repairs, and an allotment for CapEx). 

Cover the basics first my man...........Go to THAT bank directly and see if you can get them to pre-approve you.