Pay him cash.

I was able to figure out that they had come upon some hard times and were significantly low on cash.

Get a handful together to start, so you have some cash to initiate the class action.

These sellers paid much less than what the going rate it today, likely have no mortgage or low interest rate mortgage and do not need to push rents to market value to cash flow.They get solid returns at their current rental values, have minimal headache with current tenants and they don't need to do major repairs to get their properties sold for a solid value. 

As you know its near impossible to find a good cash flowing deal in CA due to sale price, taxes and lack of inventory.Last one I closed on was over off of Germantown Road it was a great 2 unit that needed a little TLC for $160K but passed an inspection and was livable.

SFR houses will only appraise based on comps.So unless someone was paying cash you can't get more than they appraise for.The camp ground is a different story.

It'd be better to pocket the cash in my opinion and invest elsewhere.It seems like there's a bit of conflict between where you are and where you'd like to be.

We're still seeing deals here that have positive cash flow and appreciation potential.

We also refinanced 1 rental and went from a 5.75% to a 3% interest rate, changing my cash flow over $200 a month. 

getting cash flowing rentals in those states is certainly possible, but much, much more difficult than advertised.