Plus, I pastor a church…so you can say I have a lot of irons in the fire.

Just throwing out some random ideas.What have you guys done or had success with in the past or present?

I am not a counselor or pastor.  

And if you met through a mutual friend at church, I would recommend asking the pastor(s) if they would help mediate so everybody can stay in an amicable fellowship.

They were trying so hard to keep me off the property that they called my local MLS Board, the state commission, the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Mayor's office, the Sheriff, and even my church (I never did figure out how they knew what church I attend but I am happy to report my pastor hung up on them!).

There is a church that seems to be a solid presence on the same block and I have conversed with the pastor there, but also vacant homes as well. 

References from a Pastor, employer, previous landlords just for starters and consent to speak to all of them.

Personally, I'm just looking for great properties, and if I use NOI (past or future expected) divided by purchase price (past, asking, or likely future, or offer price) then, well, that's just one of my data points that helps guide me.

He bought the house from his pastor with cash in exchange for a quit claim deed, but the deed was never recorded.I took the seller down town today to file the paperwork.

For example, my wife who was a pastor for a whole in Florida ( she's now a Chaplin and a counselor for hospice) was provided a house ( a parsonage ) and was expected to live there if she didn't own a house in the area, which we didn't.