But basically I would search the websites constantly for houses I thought fit me which a small criteria for me as I said above basically under 30k that rents above 600, I have always thought I would be willing to pay more for a rent ready one but never did pull the trigger on any.

@ George  Blower I understand that part...so basically I should have 6 months reserve expens and rest of all the balance I could use as down payments...would that be wise to do it or are there any other better ways I should purchase the property.

The counterlawsuit allowed us to take control of the conversation vs just defending ourselves in court.

Basically I was giving him guaranteed steady work at a little less than what he makes with a bonus at the end of the job.

You want to talk to your CPA first and foremost you don't want to get in a situation were your deemed a dealer and lose your cap gain tax advantages.that said a take down schedule like this is common in the industry.. although CA usually a million dollar property is not a lot.. vis a vi development ground.. and builder developers there usually stroke a check if needed.I suspect though if your going to sell it in phases.the land would be split into 3 phases and you deed out each phase as he pays if off.. but not individual lots that were your CPA can advise you on dealer status.its common though in these scnerios to have accerlated paymentso you have  3 phases  333k each... you sell first phase for  400k.. second phase for 400k last phase for 200k.. this way you get a premium if he fails to buy the rest of the dirtalso in your contract make SURE you demand that all work product engineering soils geo tech that type of stuff is once paid for your property as well.usually in vanilla real estate transaction on the west coast I don't recommend or see the need for a lawyer but in this case I would find a good real estate lawyer tell him these basic terms and things you need then let him prepare the contract.. hope that helps.. and assuming the dirt is in CA.. of course.

Basically saying that good liability insurance will do the trick as LLCs are easily pierced and just complicate the lending process. 

Basically everyone helps where they can but the official PM has to be my step dad for those properties because he is the owner. 

Yes it's done all the time it's basically a live in flip under those circumstances.That's assuming you mean selling it after a few years once you've captured appreciation.Otherwise you could keep it as a rental and then refinance your equity out to buy a second property.Also worth noting as long as you live in it for 2 years you'll also get the $500k Home Sales Tax Exclusion.It's really just a matter of if you, your wife and one year old want to deal with living through rehabs.

I'm basically trying to make sense of the big picture. 

They know the basics, but not enough to help you really know the local ins/outs.