but in my view it makes a relatively "safe" investment in cash flowing real estate into a gamble on appreciation.    

I hear what you're saying about the cost to make them habitable but I don't think that will be considered a gamble when you're looking backwards a few years from now. 

But these come rarely.Do you really want to gamble with your money time and effort on luck?

Don't know don't care.You are gambling with a lot of time and effort and if you are anything like me?

That's an $1800 gamble with this software.

Or for a total immersion, buy the PR's interest in the estate today and replace her as the PR.  

You really need to immerse yourself and learn all you can.

Here is why:1) every month I'm paying down my debt using my cash flow and can pay extra towards my debt and still make more money vs waiting for future appreciation2) rents in my area have gone up for 80 years now3) my rental income is subsidized by HUD so your tenants over time will not pay consistently when they lose their Job, get disgruntled, have a bad day lol4) the rental income I get is 2x more per dollar invested therefore I more than compensate for higher appreciation but I have advantage of 1 to 3 aboveSummary my IRR is guaranteed you are gambling on both your tenant and local market.

"Terms" investing was not foreign to me however I wanted to immerse myself into terms investing and Chris seemed like an honest guy so I took a chance. 

There are many other ways of getting financing without the gamble of possible financial misery of a loved one. -- Good Luck - JonI love that strategy Jon!