The owner has not had good experiences with tenants and does not want to offer financing/sell to an investor since he will still be tied to a rental situation through this financing.

Is this guy even the owner? 

He also provides real estate consulting services to multifamily investors, owners, and operators.

The owner is about to go into foreclose as of Oct 4th.

hi Jim Add me to your connections.My name is Raul Vargas I'm the owner of nogi electric in Mesa Arizona.

Then look in the county assessors website to find the owners. it should give their name and mailing address.

Know your market, figure out what utilities owner carries, what repairs/capEx are needed, etc, what did similar buildings sell for?

So I am somewhat involved with commercial brokerage firms and owners and they seem to be doing well these days.

If you were owner occupying, the Homestyle loans allow a small percentage of the work to be done by the owner on SFRs, but it sounds like you're looking for an investment, so this wouldn't be an option.  

Also, if your parents are listed as the owner, then they will owe any taxes on any taxable income from the rents, as well as being able to deduct the depreciation from that income.