That is terrific especially raising kids to boot!

Just do your homework and most of all screen, screen, screen your tenants. 

I personally can not stand the sound of the floating floor, i have not found one yet that does not sound "hollow" when you walk on it. your best bet is glue down or nail down, you can buy 3/8" nail down flooring, and as mentioned by @Jon Graham  some of the engineered wood have a thick enough top layer to be able to re sand it, do your homework on that.

He approached me offering to lease me the property until the date of his death at which point his kids would inherit the property, get a step up in basis, and sell it to me.

So don't rush into anything, take your time and do your homework and profits will follow.I work the Richmond market too and loving it.

Then I ran into an investor (lets call him CN), who had a lead on an 80+ door apartment deal he was chasing about 10 minutes from my residence.By the time CN was able to finalize the deal in 2010, I had done my homework and knew that this was a winner!

Ive done a bit of homework on what it might take to convert this. 

@Brooks Rembert I haven't used it personally (yet) but I've done a ton of homework and networking about this benefit.

I completely agree that doing my homework, educating myself and asking the right questions is extremely important in selecting the right PMC, and I am thankful for the information that you provided.I also believe that this forum was designed for people to share their personal experiences with others, which is why I posed the question above.I DO appreciate all of the insight that you shared above, especially the series on "How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant." 

My own grand kids love to go in the ocean in the morning, and the pool in the afternoon or evening or when the ocean's rough.