I've never heard the 25% thing before, but any difference between FMV and sales price would technically be considered a "gift" with potential tax implications for your parents.You can avoid most seller costs as there's no reason to use agents in this case.As an FYI: I always recommend avoiding a FHA loan, if you qualify for a low-down payment conventional loan.

Talk to a qualified agent in the area and see what you can get for rent and how long it would take it to rent it out.

Are these loans that I could get pre-qualified for?

To restate, I wonder if it is feasible to pre-qualify prospects financially and criminally before touring.

Does anybody know if a bank will qualify a sponsor that has the net worth but does not have a schedule of real estate? 

@Julian Martinez The good thing about your position is that if you decided to sell the property you can qualify for the 121 exclusion, and qualify for a 1031 exchange.

Also Solo 401k is exempt from that tax if you qualify instead of using SDIRA.  

I recently read people making up to 117k a year can qualify for public assistance in SF.  

Keep in mind that many of these cheap homes are selling for less than a third of their insurance replacement value, which really means that the land has negative value - let that sink in.Most buyers who can actually qualify for a mortgage will get a PA for $200-300k and desperately want to upgrade their life.

Brickell has that same kind of potential, but with even higher rent ceilings thanks to its location.A couple of things to keep in mind as you dive in:Financing: As a first-time buyer, you might qualify for low down payment programs.