Especially for things like population growth/decline, economic trends etc.And what things do you recommend checking when trying to decide whether a location is a good place to invest.

If your children decide to sell it (you can't predict the future), they will likely face steep capital gains tax. 

Or if you heard about them but decided not to work with them for xyz reason, I'd interested in that too. 

Bottom line: the tenant doesn't get to decide how to pay you.

And the split is whatever you decide on. 50/50 is what a lot of people usually do.

This could be as much as $5 million if I decide to.I DO NOT want anything to do with managing rental properties.  

Well anyone can write anything into a contract, but whether it is legal and enforceable is for the courts to decide...It is State law here that a contractor must call 811 or they are liable for the costs.

Before we sold it we hired a management company to reduce the burden, but even then we decided to sell and walk away. 

Fast forward two months, and now the property is rented out, so I decided it was time to refinance.

In Oregon, how do I decide between renting and buying?