I haven't included any utilities in my rents i.e. the tenants have always I prefer separately metered properties. 

The moderators prefer we not dialogue too much in the general forums about local meetups around town to cut down on clutter and help curtail advertising in the general forums.That said, I facilitate a subgroup specifically for newer investors as part of our local real estate investor's association AZREIA.

However, the owner prefers going straight thru our lawyers.

I live in Maine, word prefer something online.

One alternative may be for your father to take a loan from his retirement account.In order to be able to do so you father would need to be separately self-employed (although not necessarily on a full-time basis as I know that he just retired).Regarding taking a 401k loan: If your father is self-employed with no full-time employees & he could set up a Solo 401k, rollover the funds and take a 401k loan from the Solo 401k.He can borrow up to 50% of the balance not to exceed $50,000.The repayment terms are equal monthly/quarterly payments (as you prefer) of principal and interest (e.g. prime + 1%) spread over a 5 year term (or longer if you will use the loan to purchase your primary residence). 

It seems you might - deep down inside - be a little upset about this, but understand that for whatever reason they prefer you not attend.

I want to do this locally as I have been a long distance landlord when I moved to Florida and prefer to be more hands on.

@Tanisha Haughton This is the only way I prefer to buy. 

Your path forward is dependent on what you value most, there is no single correct path.This might not be popular opinion but I prefer to pay only a little more than the minimums on debts and then save/invest as much as possible into a variety of things, rather than paying down debts and having nothing left. 

I prefer to know the condition of the property and major systems so I can do my own estimate as an investor.