If their 14 year old daughter lives with the dad...then they already know mom is looking at the rental and may have told her about it.You don't need an addendum.  

Most off-market type deals will come from mom and pop seller financed notes.

@Tommy BrantIt really depends upon the market, and I think the operator, their scale of operations, and their loss runs.We bought a deal from a mom and pop last year, and their insurance company saved us dramatically on pricing.  

The outskirts work a bit better but my wife and her mom would like to be near city center.

It takes a special type of landlord to be successful in this space being discussed, but I buy properties all the time from mom and pop owners ready to retire who have had their C properties or D properties for 20, 30 or even 40 years!

I have been on the mom side of a troubled kid so I understand.

My unit count is much less but the duration is around 50 years (combined my mom’s rentals and my rentals) without paying a tenant to leave or having to do an eviction.  

Mom passed away last year unexpectedly.

However since you are having zero luck then I am going to recommend older centers that are typically run by mom and pop owners techniques.

An older mom-and-pop restaurant or a stand-alone would suffice if you could find one.