I suppose legally you could, if you fully disclosed the non arms length nature but, no lender in business, or wanting to stay in business would do it.At the end of the day, what you want, while it may make sense to you and your parents, just isn't a scenario that happens.  

It's monopolistic in nature especially when it comes to transaction involving a commission.

You also have to be with an agent who fully understands the nature of zoning and regulations.

But, life seems to go on for them...On a slightly different note, I think the nature of your investments may dictate how you structure yourself. 

Cedar offers natural resistance to rot and pests with a great look that can enhance property value, but at a significantly higher cost and it requires regular maintenance to retain its appearance.

A similar situation would be like when New Orleans flooded and people were displaced in mass , or another natural disaster .

Trying to figure out if this is natural settling or we should provide reinforcement to the beam to prevent further settling. 

The natural gas boom in the area has brought a ton of out of town workers who need a place to rent.

They will often want a new building constructed and building today with labor and materials is very expensive versus retrofitting existing building.When I buy value add vacant buildings the goal is to double the return on investment within a 3 year period.So if I can use the existing building and retrofit to same concept ( example previous burger inc. but now Whataburger wants to come in ) then not as much tenant improvements to convert.So if rent 20 a foot for 5,000 ft that is 100k NOI NNN a year. 7 cap value is about a 1,400,000 stabilized valueSo if I buy it for 400k and have 300k in it more 700k to get new tenant in the value is then around 1,400,000 based on NNN 20 a foot and a 7 cap rate exit value.If you want a premium price then you would need to sell to an end user tenant ( regional or national in nature) that wants to buy the building and put their concept in there.

In all, we were able to do a cash-out refinance after 1 year and got our entire investment, including down payment, back into our personal accounts and we still have a cash flowing property.The beauty of smaller town and communities is that often big-time investors are not looking at them as closely and they can cash flow quite well, at the sacrifice of "natural" appreciation.