I am very excited to learn about the community and engage in discussion with other investors.

Be sure to be as active and engaging as possible.

Also, I’m using my SDIRA – which essentially forces me to take a pure passive route and engage a property manager.You hit the nail on the head regarding the septic and well – these are my greatest concerns.

they can't stop the drafts without engaging me first.Both cost $3.  

If it's owner finance try to negotiate a few months of debt service for free.This will give you time to turn over the property and fix the problems and increase cash flow until it's stabilized.If an owner is desperate enough you would be surprised at what they will agree to.I can tell you if the owner is slow to respond for request for info than the situation is probably WORSE then they are reporting initially.They want to sugar coat it so you don't run away.Many sellers get a fantasy that if they sugar coat it and they make it to closing then they can get lucky and get close to the price they want and not take a blood bath.Keep the seller engaged but tell them you can only pay XXXX.When they say but this property generates Y then say "I asked for you to provide info which you gave no info or PARTIAL info only.Since I can't fully validate what you are telling me with complete and hard data I have to price in the risk for the unknown"This will force them to provide the data or come clean with other problems.You tell them I am still interested but not at that price with the problems listed.If they balk give them your card and wait.Investing is like a relationship.Easy to get into but very hard to get out of and usually it takes longer than expected and is really painful.For eviction I would take a day and go to your local eviction court.You can learn by listening to the tenants and landlords go at it and what the judge thinks.What I learned is that I thought "Have my day in court and be real specific as to why I am evicting them etc."

Engage and prosper!

The kids burned down the house so mom and dad are liable for the damages.I think the burden of proof would be too high for the tenant to recover from the landlord's lacquer issue.If there was a witness who saw the landlord in the garage prior to the incident or if there was physical evidence of some furniture or fence that he was applying lacquer to, then you have a situation where it's pretty clear he was there and he was engaged in an act that could reasonably believed to have started the fire.

Ensure you have an appropriate attorney engaged the whole time.

Below are some quick links to get engaged on this site. http://www.biggerpockets.com/startherehttp://www.biggerpockets.com/meetSetting up Keyword AlertsHow to Use @Mentions on BiggerPocketshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/ruleshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/invitesREI books suggested by BPershttp://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/04/14/best-real-estate-books/?

The odds of you radically changing the way they are thinking about the subject are very slim.I wouldn't even engage with them about the topic.