Or maybe the landlord would agree to begin re-marketing the unit with your brother paying rent until a suitable replacement tenant can be found.At the end of the day, your brother is bound by the terms of the lease that he signed, and trying to slip something past the landlord/property management company is not likely to end well.

The duplex is located in an A class neighborhood, right in the middle of a nice residential neighborhood, so it would not be suitable for a hungry investor looking for a run down beater.

Again, the quality properties are bid up far too high and the rest are not suitable.

I agree that it absolutely could happen, but until it does nobody is going to give a suitable answer.

Perhaps I should just suggest they might want to move to a more suitable dwelling. 

Determine if that land is suitable for the type structures you wish to build (flood area, zoning, utilities, etc)3. 

They are not suitable for tech worker housingBy trend speaking, antioch/pittsburgh/oakland is in one low end category ; next is san leandro/san lorenzo/hayward.

If that's one's primary - or only - strategy, seeking properties to fit one's strategy is equally challenging, whereas if one knows multiple strategies one can approach a property and be able to determine which strategy, if any, would be most suitable.

It is not easy to find a suitable and reliable crew.

Also, contacting my local probate court and communicating with Probate Attorneys, is my next step to access more suitable motivated sellers.