Why would you think paying the landlord for an apartment your family still has possession of is a bad idea?  

. $300-$350k seems to be the range of house that meets my criteria in this area.The only problem is that with my debt to income ratio (student loans and a car payment) I can only qualify for about $250k.Running the numbers I know that I would live for free and even cash flow a small amount on a property, but of course mortgage companies don't look at this when lending. 

My wife and I have great credit scores and a decent debt-to-income.More details:Seller originally wanted to set everything up through their lawyer since the property is in a trust.

@Bentley Cox I don't have loans I'm not in a lot of debt I've been educating myself in real estate investment I'm studying right now to get my broker's license I've been educating myself in real estate for almost a year now I just got a new job that's going to pay me more money in the long run it's an all year work around I'm just eager to get started so I do understand why you want to get started cuz I'm in the same boat as you my name is Aaron

So, my question is 1) how do I take possession of the property?

If you own any real estate, equity, derivatives, commodities, or even debt - The ownership on these assets is more than likely to be recorded on a distributed ledger (blockchain) and be represented by security tokens.But hey, don’t take my word for it.

Not sure where your located but its a gamble to rent and wait.. its only 6k negative a year that's not bad.But if having that debt precludes you from other investments then sometimes its best to cut and run..

To begin with, ask if the investment is a debt or equity. 

If you mean you take possession of the property and the previous owner still has a mortgage on it, no, because you don't own it.If you get title and you sign a promissory note to the seller to make payments (essentially the seller becomes the banker), you can get a loan for two situations: 1> a loan with a bank to refinance out of the promissory note, which pays off the seller what you owe, and places a new lien on the property. 2> Potentially a rehab or 2nd mortgage "IF" you can find a bank willing to take a 2nd position on the property.

Given that we would buy site unseen we were going to offer $75,000 (listed for $95,000) and demand the seller clears out the tenants before we take possession.