As the situation became more complicated, I involved a lawyer and began mediation.

I am not sure what type of real estate investing you're considering, but it sounds like, with your family and busy job, you won't have a lot of time to be hands-on or personally involved. 

Now, if they don't want to do that for whatever reason and don't have anybody to work with who would do that for you, I'd have to agree with you that they'd better invest at home rather than getting involved in something they don't understand.

When a lot of tenants are involved, you want to provide as many options as possible.

I'm an LP in a Syndication where DLP is also involved. 

Jim's bleating about government being involved.

Has anyone out there been involved in something similar or have ideas on how I can move forward with this?

People who are involved in anything tend to have an overinflated sense of self, ego and importance.

Pete area and am very involved in the market here, especially in analyzing rental properties. 

Was he really involved in your deals?