A very high percentage of my tenants (in fact, almost all of them) were single mothers. 

Very high population growth over the past few years and sustained high rental demand along with that.

Never heard of a performance deed.Maybe have them sign a Quit Claim deed to you that your attorney holds in case they stop paying?

It is not normal to see that high in one year but it does happen too often when they need money.  

Instead of fighting the high interest rates as a borrower, take advantage of them by being a lender.

Some gurus go as high as 70%, IMHO that is too high, leave some cushion for your private money people to sell in case you get hit by a bus.

Assuming a required rate of return of 5% (comparable to high-yield savings or a CD), the deal would need to yield a total CoC return of 10% (since everything is split 50/50).I'm stuck because while playing around with numbers, achieving this return seems improbable if not unrealistic.

There will typically be a lot of offers on the place unless the condition is no good or the property is priced high, so you need to communicate everything.4.

It also has an unusually high concentration of 2-4 family multi-family options to make your dollar go a little further, if a duplex or fourplex is your cup of tea.

There's a high likelihood that family dynamics will come into play.