Not sure how we would handle closing costs. 

I'd also wonder what the costs were estimated to install things like insulation, kitchenette, removing/adding doors, etc would cost and how fast you could make up the initial investment in rents.Then of course you'd have to consider if your family will be able to handle giving up the storage space LOL

We've all be in your position, those of us who handled it right are still doing it. 

Since I am an out of state investor do you know if they will handle all of the stuff involved?

He is a passive partner and I handle the rehab and sale to compensate for money I'm not putting in.My recommendation is to make sure you put everything in writing and really make sure you do your homework on the person you're getting in bed with. 

Aside all this, I still hold a full-time job and am very lucky to work with my wife who handles the main chunk of work during business hours, speaking with buyers, sellers, other agents, and pushing through transactions to the closing table.

They have a maintenance guy that handles anything so our contact with the landlord is very limited.I would love to this property as my first investment property, however, I'm having trouble thinking about how I to be going about this.My initial thoughts are to just put out a feeler saying how much my wife and I love this area and that we eventually would like to hopefully buy some day and just politely ask that if they were ever thinking of it, to please keep us in mind.I'm having trouble figuring out how to communicate this message.

I'm far from an expert landlord/investor - but I think I moved on from newbie a few years ago as well.I've had a handful of rentals since 2006 - never more than 10 doors while holding down a full time job - until last fall I've handled all my leasing, showings, etc. 

Or just ask me about the 2 Roth IRA audits I directly handled.

Can we setup a mortgage to the LLC identifying two or four different individuals as the payee or do we need to set-up separate LLC to handle distribution to and from?