The lawyer burst into laughters when we showed him all those lengthy text messages from her mom. 

Targeting families with children to hopefully stay a long time4- yes, my original plan was to build fourplexes and tried to rezone it for that, but after an expensive and lengthy process, the county ultimately decided against rezoning.

In this scenario, the seller might have to go through a foreclosure which could be a cumbersome and lengthy process.If the seller has an existing mortgage, he/she will need approval from the lender if the terms of his or her loan prevent this type of transaction.Because this process is less structured than a traditional loan, you will need the help of attorneys and knowledgeable professionals to make sure all documentation is in order.

I figured it was not that simple and the process would be extremely lengthy.

Then it becomes a long, lengthy, expensive process.

The title company tells me that the daughter only has to get a death certificate and become the personal representative and the process should not take much time.Others are telling me it may have to go through probate, this may be a very lengthy process and our contract is null and void since the owner died,  that I should contact the daugther directly. 

Your only recourse would be a very lengthy, expensive, and issue laden equitable judicial foreclosure action which you could conceivably lose. 

After a lengthy and pricey entitlement process, I was able to get approval from the city to build my multi-property project.

I wrote a post on it the other day that explains some of the things you are asking and it includes a spreadsheet to make it easier.https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/67...As you can see, it is a bit of an advanced technique so it requires a lengthy explanation.

Yeah, sounds like all your returns were wrong.......while not exactly arms length, I suspect your rent should have counted just like all the rest, 1/3 (assuming that is your ownership interest) of “unadjusted” profits/losses should have flowed their to you, just like you didn’t live there.