I'm just entering the work force as a recent physical therapy graduate so I have no money saved up right now.

One of the benefits of investing in your area other than the fact that you will be physically close is that, for obvious reasons, Silicon Valley is an ideal market to rent properties given the phenomenal job and income growth over the past 5-7 years.

I hate cash too, but being remote, physical delivery is impossible (lucky me).Second, same Regs disallow coercing payments to any single method.  

There are REIAs in your area that you can physically go to to network.

lots of good answer above: but I would also add:support at home from your spouse- depending on their risk tolerance vs. yours you may need to over-communicate early on regarding the money down, risks, returns, and physical property details, and then keep them involved and knowledgable on a regular basis.

Should they exercise their option in two years, the amount of deposit would come off the purchase price.In short, you get paid three ways. 1) You've collected a substantial down 20,000 (or more)2) You've made $550 per month cash flow x 24 months = $13,200 (the other 700 paid down your debt $16,800 so your balance to the seller is now $102,200)3) Your buyer gets financed at 139 (159 less the 20,000 credit) 139,000 - your 102,200 balance = $36,800 profit on the back end.So in two years you've been paid:$20,000 front end + $13,200 in cash flow and $36,800 on the back end for a total of???

Depending on other factors I could easily see $300/month for a SFR.When I did this exercise I posted my thoughts in the San Diego section of BP. 

Many people have read the same books/listened to the same gurus that say to look for properties where the owner pays the utilities and simply submeter them or charge the tenants on a ratio basis.The truth is, 90% of the time the current owners have read those same books and would have done that years ago if they could.There are several very real problems with separating utilities. 1) Physical/Cost - often the buildings will not accommodate it without tearing into the structure to rewire/repipe which is cost prohibitive.2) Market - sure, just bill the tenants for it on a ratio basis but guess what they can't afford it, or can find cheaper rent elsewhere  3) Legal - sometimes it's not allowed/implementing it involves a lot of regulatory compliance cost4) Administrative - there is actually work and cost involved in reading meters and billing for utility servicesDon't get me wrong, this is a valid strategy for value-add and I have used it successfully.

What should I do before I give him the physical address?

Looking into physically distressed MHP properties is also an option, depending on just how distressed they are.Other than the above mentioned scenarios are there any other thoughts on what might turn a MHP owner into a motivated seller?