Multi-family in Long Beach, CA

[Daniel Shaheen]

I have a friend who's parents own some real estate investments. I was speaking with his father the other day and he was talking about wanting to sell some, but doesn't want to get hit with capital gains. One of the properties is a 4 unit that I know needs quite a bit of work, per my friend. I am pretty sure they have mortgage on the place. It seems like it could be a really good value add property because the rents are low for the area and the place needs some fixing up. I know you can only owner finance if someone owns the property out right, so here's the question:

Is it possible to acquire a property in a 'owner financing type way' if the current owner has a mortgage and is in good standing with the lender?

My thought is for them to avoid capital gains and get me into a property without a conventional mortgage. I don't qualify for a conventional mortgage because I currently have a mortgage on my home and my salary is not high enough to qualify for much more debt-income.

Any knowledge/advice on this topic would be great, and any other advice for someone in my position looking to get into real estate investing would also be humbly received.