With what you are trying to do, there may be some structures we can come up with in order to avoid the securities world, but would need to dig into detail.  

Depending on if each of the family members are interested to do their own deals with you or you are combing the money into one fund and purchasing a property, there can be different structures. 

If a seller has a property free and clear how do you structure a seller financing in order to not get a bank loan??

@Ronald Daley - you mean a structural engineer?

872 sqftWith that in mind there are some things that are still decent:-HVAC is good, just need new heaters installed-Plumbing is no problem-Roof is fairly newNeed to be done:-Electrical needs some new work done-Demolition of the rooms -Basement - Kitchen needs to be fully renovated -Building 2 new bathroom + half bath-With a possibility of a 91 sqft addition in the back!

We are looking to formalize our business into an appropriate entity structure (recommendations for a local attorney are definitely welcome!)

@Shaun James repainting cabinets, laying tile in kitchen and bathroom.

I have a friend who receives steady cash flow every month from his attached unit with separate entrance kitchen and bathroom.

By structuring the transaction this way, the buyer will not have to put down any of their own money to buy/close. 

From my understanding, the benefits of having an LLC are going to come into play most often for structuring partnership deals and litigation arising from issues on the property.