We've become good friends during our time spent together in college and hes actually the reason why i even put thought into real estate investing.

Or you could just have a will drawn up for a couple hundred bucks ;)My lawyer friends always say "you can pay me now or pay me later".

Here in the same county, a friend of mine had an large, older ranch home, built in the 50's, on a gorgeous piece of riverfront property (in a very desirable, upscale, neighborhood), that still had the original electrical meter , and the power cable /electrical feed coming into the house right next to the front door!!!

The area is now zoned single family residential but this place is grandfathered in and can remain a quadplex but you can't get a mortgage on it.

I've found that it is zoned RT1 per this: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspecti...However, it doesn't seem to mention a triplex, especially if it's in a home in a residential neighborhood and not a small building.

A friend was buying a rental house from a long term investor.

If I could add to what John Leavelle said  ; it could cost as much as $60,000 to do a full Rehab here in the Philadelphia Area        My Friend Sean just did a Rehab in the Port Richmond Area Close to Fishtown and he it was $60,000        Sean has done many flips and I thought he went as "Budget" as you possibly can , for an example ; he paid $7,000 for a brand new HVAC  (Heat & Air Conditioning)  with new duct work , where that would have been double in the open retail market       Good luck with the project & feel free to reach out to me if you need any help or have questions SincerelyRick      

Bring a friend to sit with you so you're not alone, just to be safe.

There are a lot of things that go into a real estate contract that could tear best friends apart.

Both are landlord friendly states.