I am in a very similar situation and am inspired by your persistence.As @Karen Margrave and @Joe Fairless said, don't be afraid to re-evaluate your strategy and "pivot" to something more effective.I noticed your goal is cash flow.

They are simply afraid for you. 

Your education never ends in RE.I'm afraid that if you and others have been studying strategies and such, you're still way behind as you need to learn the basics first, most trying to start off make the same mistake and it may take years to learn the how, who, what, when, where and why we do things, if some ever do.

if you are out of the country, they are probably afraid of scams.  

I'm not afraid of big rehabs either.

Download all of the stuff on here to soak up as much as you can and don't be afraid of asking questions...that is what this is all about.Mark

Also, wouldn't the owner be afraid of getting back the property with a bad tenant if you were to stop paying them?

We're not afraid of doing rehab to get the property rent ready.Not interested in Gary, East Chicago or the north part of HammondThanksLarry

Afraid to become Atlanta, I think we've stayed ahead of it pretty good.I don't think you can predict whether cities or suburbs will grown faster.  

Family member has to sign grand deed for gift but I'm afraid I'll be taxed on equity gift at very high tax rate for California gift tax.