I had thoughts that "legitimizing" my business would be a smart first step.a.k.a. making a website, having business cards, getting a separate "business" phone/voicemail to answer prospective leads inquiring about properties or offering them.Would anyone suggest that this is the right direction to go before spending money on direct mailing campaigns/driving for dollars/running advertisements via craigslist or any other source?

@Samuel Rothmann Hi, I am in Oregon and started my out of state REI in Jacksonville via a great turnkey company.  

You should strongly consider the possibility of holding it personally or via a partnership.

This all of course could be done via contracts but it also seems a bit messy, granted anything other than seller financing is going to look messy anyway.Any thoughts on this vs seller financing would be appreciated.

Is it possible for a property zoned Residential (R20) that is legally conforming to have a highest and best use as commercial via an appraiser?

I just read into buying multi units via FHA the other day and did read about the max number of units I just figured there were ways around it even if it meant putting down say 7% vs. 3.5 but if that were the case I guess it would still make more financial sense to stay with the 3.5 on a 4 unit.

Assuming that his fico score its over 680, I would cash out via conventional loan. 203K its considered an FHA product, so he can not hold two FHA loans at this time if the last loan was expedited in the last 3 years.

When someone calls you and says they are not interested in selling now but might be later, I always follow up via phone.  

Getting the tenant out via OMI is possible but it depends on the tenants situation like I mentioned above.

I am hoping to buy a property from a family member via seller financing.