Are there other means to bring the owners to the table and incentivize selling their share of a distressed property? 

I have read numerous times that you shouldn't invest in California real estate (you can buy 4 properties in the midwest for the price of 1 in CA) and that you should never invest in a city that has no industry or a declining population.I live in the mountains of Northern California, very "middle of nowhere".

A month into it I was sitting at the closing table on my first wholesale deal.

I make good money as a registered nurse so while I could afford to carrying the mortgage of a SFH, it is much more appealing to have lower monthly expenses with renters sharing the cost of a mortgage while I continue to pay down the mountain of federal student loan debt I have. 

'yeah, just need to buy a used router/table, table saw, heat gun, paint, varnish, this that, and do a-z no pro.

Taking debt maturity risk off the table H-U-G-E! 

But, like was mentioned before, most seller that close at a kitchen table don't know the difference. 

I would speak with her about the rent and her time table for paying it. 

I've never been on that side of the table so i'd love any insight someone could give me, or would love it if anyone could direct me in a direction to get started. 

Because of this, it's likely that you're going to have to bring more cash to the table and/or maybe pay a higher interest rate (because traditional banks might not touch it).Here is my logic on the costs based on your posts.