However, I have stayed persistent and some non traditional financing options have gradually presented themselves.Recently, I came across a deal that I thought had some potential.

Perhaps he is planning on staying as a tenant after he sells.

If you do not do it this way then you risk running your unit vacant because college students tend to start looking for a place to stay around Feb-May for the following year, actually more like Mar-May, but you want the Ad up in Feb.

So I recently posted about trouble I was having when two of the room mates on the lease demanded to be let off, the other two wanting to stay and two more wanting to be added.

It would be a great place fro someone staying in SoCal or if someone wants to rent it out.

Lastly, appreciation may be tough to come by so need to find value-adds in a market already saturated with rent options.I typically stay North of 190 but there are definitely other pockets that make sense (it's also all relevant to your risk tolerance so don't want to make a firm statement here)  Dawn Anastasi is a Milwaukee investor who was on a BP Podcast and has written a solid short eBook on Milwaukee.  

I believe judgement from child services survive the tax deed sale and it stays on, even when I buy it.

Glad to hear you're staying above the fray and have a more wholesome perspective than some you've come across. 

Generally I would recommend to stay away from such transaction, there are many investment opportunities available for your IRA to invest on it's own, that is what you should consider. 

He was trying to talk me into letting him stay for a couple of weeks to have a garage sale and clean everything out.