I can be pretty level headed when solving someone else's problems that have zero financial and emotional investment from me.

One more tip – people remember stories that trigger their emotions.

The agreement should be done by an attorney but the Trust can be a simple two page form.Partnering with family can cause long term emotional stress, if your agreement is written, signed, notarized you will avoid fights, as this is a business arrangement.

Often people who fall into this trap have bought property for emotional, and not financial, reasons.

The investment game is all just math—if you do the math well (which includes accounting for the unexpected by low-balling your estimates) then your investment decisions don't have to be stressful emotional ones, they're just decisions that are either smart or not smart after you break them down on a calculator.Which extends to the last point that I've come to believe completely—your rental portfolio is a business.

I believe he may be a little too emotionally attached.

I am trying to avoid deadly mistake #1 emotionally loving a property before I crunch the numbers.

When you visit their home, you can begin to connect with them emotionally and find the main reason they are trying to sell and offer a solution to that.

Most importantly, don't let emotions get involved since this will influence you to skew your numbers.  

This was a great experience as I was prepared to negotiate and didn't let any emotions affect my final offer.Hopefully this helps.Also, I have active contracts out on flooded property; 1 in particular is located in good area in Denham.