if you trust him should be OK  just get title insurance and make sure there are no leins out there i would want to see paid invoices of the major subs that have worked on the project to date.. some states like Oregon Mechanics liens jump ahead of any mortgage..  

So I went ahead and pulled up some statistics of metro areas with numbers that make more sense but I am finding a lot of markets where, while the prices should make sense for purchase, there are  worrying signs like decreasing population and falling home values.

I called ahead to make sure a lender would be there that I could meet in person.

You're definitely ahead of myself and many other millennials in that you already have a rental property.

Now on the contractors end , he is happy as hell , he just got 30,000 in cash  non taxable and he gets to claim a loss on the job on his taxes , so between the loss and not paying taxes or workmans comp he comes out WAY ahead 

If for whatever reason your relationship sours, you could have a nightmare on your hands.this is easily done  its called  Tennant in common .. or TIC for short.. you could have problems though with a lender just lending to a % owner of the property or one tic Trustor.the loan can also be as to a certain % of the asset.. but that's usually someone like us that is a Private lender deal maker :)  conventional banks you would want to check ahead of time to see if they will lend on TICS this was quite common in San Francisco to get around rent control by the way.and of course on the flip side on the lending side we do multi bene loans as a matter of course in states its legal in.like in Oregon its ILLEGAL to do a multi bene loan ..

But this year it will be different, I plan to send a holiday card and cookie bundle to all the tenants(only 5) to let them know that I appreciate them and to look forward to a good year ahead.

Thank you all and I will go ahead and hire the electrician.

It was very simple, just time consuming because you can't skip ahead or "beat" the timer. 

Should I go ahead and get the LLC now?