After contacting the family we told them of our concerns for their mother and they were able to step in an get some care for her and they also took over the finances and everything has been smooth since.  

I am thinking of having my mother co-sign but she lives in London.

Think of these as "mother-in-law" units.

This was true in my case as I realized that I could find a SFR with a mother-in-law suite (tons of these in ATL) and cover my mortgage with rent from the other side.

I’ve been seeing this a lot with houses that have mother in laws on them.

One tenant had to leave quickly because her elderly mother fell ill (or fell, this was a long time ago), and she has to return home to take care of her. 

Or single family homes with mother in suites/separate entrances?

That family member convinced her mother, the previous trustee, to let her stay in the property until she found a new place. 15 years later and over $300K of her personal funds sunk into the carriage house later and she is still there in a remodeled carriage house.She doesn't want to move and is now co-trustee with another family member that does want to liquidate the house and distribute the assets.

I’m in the process of buying my mother’s house.

"Due diligence is the mother of good luck" according to Ben Franklin (even though he never owned a mobile home park).