If granny loses money you can bet you're getting some phone calls, regardless of the terms you devised you can end up in court very quickly. 

I too do SFR rental properties in SoCal ... most BP'ers assume that those will not be profitable in this market, but that has not been my experience, and I'd bet not your family's experience either :) Happy to network and exchange notes on REI anytime ...

Your best best bet is spending time trying to create relationships.

I bet of this list I have about 30 actual usable addresses tops, and of those there will probably be no motivated sellers, and I saw literally none that were 10+ unit buildings.

@Colton Goodrich - if you are not working with an agent, realtor.com is your best bet.  

In my opinion, if you think you've got just a screaming deal it might be worth it to send in an LOI and make the $4-500 bet and get an appraisal done on your own.

(That's probably your best bet to beat the GC quoted price.)From what I have heard, the HD listed subs are on the very high end price range, at least in this area.  

At best, they will be stable for a few years, but I would not place bets on it.Just to give you an idea, here is the 5-year chart for the largest REIT holding in my portfolio: Anything that makes a run like that is at the tail-end of its growth, or assuredly ready for some correction.

@Cody Hill Yes, it's tricky without some trustworthy teammates on the other side, but you can find those here on BP.

I live abroad now and have no W2 or way to evaluate properties myself so I'm thinking that may be a safer bet rather than buying more houses..... not sure.