Building your team is step one.

Wise to step up and help this person out ... especially with no strings attached.

This will help me lay out the options to the family and discuss next steps.

Seeking advice to take the next step...contacted the owner of a SFH that has been vacant for several years. 

So my next step is to get the community together and change the laws of the town, "never thought I'd get into politics lol."

Thank you for your time,MoosaHi Moosa,I'm in the same boat in determining that now as we've been priced out here in South Florida (currently have 3 properties - a house hack duplex, a long term and a short term vacation rental) I'm also starting my education on that with David Greene's "Long Distance Real Estate Investing" which is referenced on BP quite frequently, so that's probably a great first step. 

Would you briefly describe the steps. 

If I were in your shoes, I'd take a step back and before I worried about how to analyze a property, I'd decide what my investment goals are, which will heavily inform the way you analyze a property.

I am very ready to take the actionable steps needed to make my first investment but I'm extremely nervous that as soon as I do the market is going to tank. 

@Joe Haine The first step would be to reach out on BP, so go ahead and check that one off the list!