These days, for anything foundation/structural, I bring in an engineer to assess the situation and recommend a solution.

Our attorney will be handling this process, and please be advised fines of up to $100 per day may be assessed beginning Tuesday March 20th and each day thereafter you remain on the premise.

Neither can a fine be imposed disguised as an assessment.

Maybe not every year, but every few years.A more realistic assessment is to deduct 50% of the gross rents to cover expenses, vacancy and capital.

I understand your comments and concerns that i'm way off base.I didn't expound enough on my original post to include that i'm assuming all purchased non performing notes would be taken through a foreclosure process of some sort, whether via friendly foreclosure, quit claim deed, etc to convert that debt instrument into real property.Out of curiosity, why would it be unethical for an attorney to handle the foreclosure process without assessing any fees for their time?

Either way, a buyer can assess "real" square footage fairly easily by comparing your house to the others they've just been through.Given the not-insignificant expense of doing what you propose, I'd leave it as-is, as a 4 bedroom.

We'll be looking at each deal individually to assess the best plan for each house.

I would challenge the assessment and try to get those taxes lowered.

Can go to a home and assess needed repairs / send me a picture of work that needs to be considered.

Vacancies, major repairs and assessments happen.