Hey @Chris McKinley...too bad you had to learn the 'hard' way, glad the property is still working out for you.Another thing to point out is that if you buy a house from an elderly person/couple - they have their tax completely waived, so you may run into a similar situation. 

I'm New to the Box Elder, SD area and I am very interested in Real Estate.

Search for and buy properties that meet criteria to rent, do the usual rehab and prep, but put some work into it to make it elderly friendly.

(as I will have it signed I hope), but these homeowners are elderly and they are really attached to their properties and it is not fun to part with them, so out of respect please don't be a leach.Anyone still willing to do this in open public.. together?

@Well the first property is owned by 2 brothers and 1 sister who took it over from their elderly mother.

In other words, if they rent from someone else they'll be asking grandpa for money to pay that rent.Hopefully they will abide by your request not to work with grandpa any further but I suspect that since grandpa and grandma are in South Carolina and you're in Georgia, these tenants might continue to hit up grandpa for these things same as before.One has to bring up the issue with aging relatives....is grandpa able to continue handling his finances or is he at risk (as my partners mother was from Bills brother) of being taken advantage financially due to changes secondary to elderly dementia issues?

or well-maintained lawns), elderly people outside/people jogging/walking dogs, how comfortable residents seem (do people's homes have garages opened?

Since I'm an attorney in Pennsylvania and my advice  is limited to Pennsylvania, you'll need to contact an elder law attorney in Rhode Island to handle this matter.

By then, the resale had closed at $95K or so, and I drafted a letter for the elderly seller to send to the state.

Who pays settlement cost, Do you have the right to assign your contract, I would be interested, but I need to see that I am protected.....need to see your agreement, do you have a real estate license, is the house vacant, when can I see the property, what is the existing balances of the mortgages.Wholesalers in my opinion are looking for a quick fix, a fast assignment Wholesalers operate under the radar of the law by using illegal methods of finding sellers, like BANDIT SIGNSWholesalers like the elderly and unknowledgeable sellers.Some people call Wholesalers "Equity Thieves"In some states "Wholesalers" are consider unlicensed real estate agents.All the good deals are NOT gone!