He claims if you can't take the 10 minutes to do this exercise, how can you possibly commit yourself to the hard work needed to succeed?

(Assume all outside money is just that, money, and these outside investors won't have any active roles in operating/managing any of the properties.)

But your role is simply "fund manager". 

Before writing this I had no intention on this car analogy but we will role with it and I will try not to wear it out. 

Raising capital is already a time-consuming, challenging, and risky enough exercise.

In Quebec, there are several tools available for investors to review liens/transactions on a property/transactions (Index des Immeubles) as well as owner and tax information (Role d'Evaluation) .

I'm a CPA and worked in public accounting as a financial statement auditor for 3 years, and have since moved on to an accounting role at a large corporation here in town. 

You have to be clear about roles and responsibilities and know that the BIC should be monitoring your business because they are taking legal responsibility.My recommendation is to visit larger offices and see if they are willing to allow you to open a property management branch under their license.

That said, Hayward schools are not considered good (compared to Walnut Creek, Dublin, etc.) and that certainly plays a big role in the difference of pricing.  

If you get over that large hurdle then a lease option can work if you actually save for the purchase and you do not get unlucky to hit a depreciation cycle.Both people I have known that have had lease options chose not to exercise them because of a depreciation cycle.