No title co. involved.

Am looking for returns in the long run mostly as a passive investment,  risk averse. 

It would involve moving the renters out of both apartments and verifying that the basement apartment is rent-able.

I’m interested to hear if people are beginning to take more risk on repairs, leasing risk, etc. in chase of returns, or are people sitting on the sidelines?  

I know every tenant has to have a first rental at some point, but good people 99% of the time have good family willing to help them out to get that start.My point was more-so that if the PM and landlord agree on qualifications (which should be driven by the experience of the PM and their market knowledge), then the landlord is in no position to blame the PM if the tenant goes sour - we can't control the tenant's life, only mitigate the risk/damages.

I've been wanting to get involved in real estate for a few years now, but never took the step.

If you're more of a risk taker, invested in a flooded home and purchase it as a discount to repair it back together, rent it then sale it later when the value has gone up and people don't assume we flood like this all the time.

Sometimes the agents involved don't have any clue what the property should sell for so you're helping educate them.

Unless it's a sure thing (and I have yet to see one of those) and he is an experienced contractor putting up a lot of sweat/time to do the rehab, your money should be worth SIGNIFICANTLY more for the risk you are tossing at it.  

@Brian Halstead,Sorry to hear about your troubles with your insurance broker.I work for Fenix Risk Management, an independent insurance agency licensed to do business in Florida with access to multiple carriers in multiple markets.