ok thanks for the response John sounds like you have done these type of transactions 

I purposefully got on most of these people's buyer's lists but I think I ended up on a bunch of them when a one of them punched out a deal and didn't hide the recipients on the email haha...I'm not complaining!

Also, for economic purposes, by placing home in LLC (a business), children will be elgible for more college financial aid since the business assets for a closely held company with few employees are exempt/not counted under federal financial aid laws but are counted when it is our personal name.  

But if you send them an email, they are quite responsive.

I am getting ready to move forward with purchasing a duplex for investment purposes.

Only 2k per year into it though.I'm less familiar with Coverdells but I'm pretty sure that room and board are qualified expenses (as someone else pointed out: to the extent that they do not exceed the on-campus room/board numbers of the relevant college), so yes, if she were to rent your place at market rent then that would likely qualify.Now, from your response, it's also possible that you are thinking of using the 529 or Coverdell for investment purposes in the same way you could use a self-directed IRA, for example.  

PS thank you all for the responses I look forward to reciprocating in any way possible!

At this point I can tap bank loans for much more favorable terms so I should probably hold off on any seller-financing deals until that no longer becomes an option.Overall, the deal seems lose/lose.  12.5% locked in for that long does seem like a low ROI for the seller (especially considering interest rates will likely rise significantly in that time), yet still too high for me for cash flow purposes.

I just got my interest peaked in my crazy online search for and affordable real estate investment but haven't the slightest clue as to if I should even begin to peruse just for informational purposes or actually roll up my sleeves and go for it.

If they own several they are obviously investors.Once you get a response from the seller of the vacant house, negotiate a deal to buy it for all cash and get it under contract.