That alone doesn't look like it would be enough to make up for the height difference(the decking only adds about an inch) so you might need to add some 2x4's to the surface of the stoop in addition to the 2x10's on the side and screw the decking on top of those.

The parents wanted to ensure the son had somewhere to live (paid) for the full year.  

I will connect, let's discuss more.Mark I was just at a meet up in Los Altos hills  last week.. 

The RE broker is the son in law of the landlord. 

Census Bureau https://www.census.gov/quickfa...Rentometer https://www.rentometer.com/Federal reserve housing charts https://realestatedecoded.com/...Altos market reports https://altosresearch.com/mark...Truth be told a lot of this depends on the scale of property you're looking at, as always be conscious of analysis paralysis.

If you were my son I would discourage you from doing this freaky deal.

I am under contract to purchase a first rental property with my son 50/50.

His son got arrested so he won't be needing the property for a while and just wants to off load it.  

Reposting my reply from similar post recently...last July I met with Bailey-Foristell, old school father and son team, small office, long history in the area.

Louis, MO with my girlfriend and our newborn son.