I wouldn't go into it with any preconceived notions of what the owner's intentions, situation or motivation may be.

While this is a great and highly motivating goal, most people are either clueless or incorrect in their belief as to what is required to obtain this “lifestyle”.Understanding of the “how to” get there is further obscured by the misleading, and often patently false “pathways” sold by real estate educational MARKETING companies as workshops, upsold to association memberships, upsold to mentorships.

Sort of.

Part of the motivation for congress writing Dodd Frank was to clamp down on the investors offering preditory terms re  rent to own and seller financing and that view has carried into craigslist rent to own adds and you say zillow. 

Find the best local real estate investor meetups that have no pitches and you will increase your knowledge, camaraderie, and motivation ten-fold.

I'm lucky to have a motivated client/investor that wants to work with me, and I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility to take care of that trust and investment.

Unless the property needs work and the seller is desperate, you're not going to find a seller willing to do any sort of seller financing on their end. 

I also wouldnt let your mom go into 2nd position on an investment property with any sort of restructuring; it doenst sound like she's in a position to risk being wiped out.Overall, though, if you want cashflow on the new property but cant achieve that after a refi into a market rate loan, it probably makes more sense to just flip it, pay off your heloc and your mom, and use the remaining capital for the next deal.

Instead, start by sharing why you’re interested and ask questions to understand the seller’s motivation like, ‘Why do you think it hasn’t sold yet?’

I'm very trainable, detail oriented, and highly motivated.