The contractor hires subs so he doesnt have to pay their workmans comp , payroll taxes etc .  

If you may have a taxable estate you'll need some more sophisticated planning because a revocable trust does not address that in any way.

@Jared ChipkinIt may be beneficial to set up the property management company to be taxed as a S-Corp to save on payroll Tax. 

You need to have a staff working 24/7 and your employee payroll, liability insurance and worker compensation insurance will put you in an Assisted Living home.

If they are sophisticated enough to do an owner finance deal, then they sure as heck shouldn't be basing the value of the property on the prospective interest payments they plan on receiving.

@Derek Robinson you can invest in Multifamily syndications if you are an accredited investor because most of the syndicators accept only accredited investors but some do take sophisticated investors if you are not an accredited investor and you can sit and see the money being directly deposited to your account and also you can reap the benefit of cost segregation and accelerated depreciation and wash off your other passive income with paper loss in apartment investment.

I am a sophisticated investor considering an investment with a syndicate.

If you get that answer in writing expect it to cost more than simple verbal responses.Also, internet research of certain terms may be useful, but realize that the legal definition may be different, and also may be location specific.Making a list of questions, and talking to an attorney about them all at once might prove useful--but remember he/she is on your time-clock/payroll, and huge list will probably cost more than a smaller list. 

Payroll versus paying a contractor is a wash some savings not much.

I look at utilities and payroll to see if they are running above the normal range of expenses for that category.