After purchasing it from your mother, you could offer the property as a "Lease Option to Buy" or "Lease Purchase" while allowing them to make the improvements to the house at their discretion and out of their pocket.

Plus, you can borrow money beyond the $35,000 threshold for Energy Efficiency Improvements (windows are a big one, heat pumps, etc).  

BUT, don't forget that you get to include closing costs in your basis, as well as any capital (non-decorative, permanent) improvements you made to the property. 

Do you find that ability to push the rents up is neighborhood dependent, i.e there is a max rent that a property can achieve in certain neighborhoods no matter how much you improve it? 

This puts me on track to have the equivalent of six single-family homes in two years and I could easily exceed that since this year is just starting.As I acquire properties, the cash flow will go to reserves for major improvements, emergencies, vacancies, etc.

. $100 down for certain HUD homes.Standard program allows up to 110% of the after improvement value based on appraisal.

For example, when I was first buying, every lender I spoke to told me that rents needed to be on my tax returns for at least a year before they could offset my debt and improve my debt to income ratio.  

Since the competition is either not improving or doing similar quality I don't need to over improve.  

Then put together a battle plan for the next one (what worked, what didn't, how to improve).  

A mechanics lien is simply a lien for unpaid improvements done to property by a contractor/supplier.