It is difficult to decipher whose opinions, judgements, and authority are fiduciary.I do believe it does take money to invest in real estate - not necessarily for a down payment but to have sufficient reserves for the investment (which does not seem to be discussed much).

Everything I see for the northern VA area and beyond market is just so unattainable; it seems like unless you have a down payment, that is way way way more than 20 percent, there is no way to get any positive cash flow.

I have construction loan on the current house I'm building and used similar strategy (land was purchased outright and used to cover majority of the down payment).

But, for instance, I sent them a notice of rent increase effective February 1 and needed them to confirm that they have accepted the new payment terms through our electronic payment system, and even after repeated notices, they are not responding.

My price range is between 250 - 350k (less would be better, but if more than I would have to be mindful with the interest or down payment %).

They have a balloon payment for the principal due in 10 years.

To structure a partnership, consider forming an LLC where you handle property management, renovations, and operations, while the investor provides the down payment.

The payment structure with the family is also not a secret.  

We use a third party servicer to do all of this - much easier and when starting just tracked payments in wuickbooks as servicer tracked everything else 

Trust invests the cash to make the payments on the installment sale to the seller.