So he can't be my agent, but he knows the process well enough that I wonder if he can't just help make sure I don't forget to cross any t's and dot any i's, bt without an official realtor.  

Hello Friends,I'm proud to announce that successfully finished my first renovation with in budget.All credit goes to BP community. you guys Inspired me, you guys gave me all the right tools to play the game confidently, So I feel it's my responsibility to share my experience, which might help someone out there.I will try to keep it short.My project details:Side by side duplex Here in Windsor, ON Canada Buying price: 102kGot mortgage: 124.5k (including renovation costs)Down payment: 8200(5% down + closing cost)So I got 22.5k for reno from lender Being a first time buyer I was very scared inside, but the education from BP articles/success stories/books/podcass I took a leap faith and I moved forward.What helped me to finish the project with in budget:1.

I am assuming that this work was never permitted or made official since it does not appear as such on the tax appraisal website.

I don't see how an investor who does their due diligence can accidentally purchase a property with a government lien on it because in order for the lien to be official, the lien will need to be recorded on public record.

The first step I would advise would've been do NOT announce on a public forum that you have $1.3M in the bank ... it will not attract the kind of attention you are going to want ... oops lol.

Real Agents and local officials, what they think. 

@David Dachtera I thought you couldn't start to officially take out money until you reach like 59 and a half, is this misinformation? 

So my question is...since we can't rent it before we officially own it, does this mean that we're SOL unless the seller for some reason decided to spontaneously rent the other unit before closing?

Thanks @Kyle Mccaw@Scott Harper , I did not meet the tenants officially.  

Of course I am getting an official appraisal as well, but at a cost of over $700, I would really hate if my property came up short.To give you an idea of it's location, it is west of I-10 and north of Speedway in the El Rio Acres neighborhood.