For a newbie is it safer to deal with a cash offer on the first property, seems to be a bit of downside protection to not having loan payments at the start.

Don't talk about legal facts and issues on a public forum.

That way you maintain Attorney Client Privilege without getting to much info about yourself publicly

I think basically the deal with ABQ is that there is very little growth and very little new inventory coming online, which means on the one hand you are protected from rising vacancy but on the other investment RE is expensive for what it is, as no new inventory comes online to push down prices. 

My employer gave me shares of company stock (company is owned by private equity firm, not publicly traded).

The public has a distaste for that phrase .

Have them all get on the phone with a CPA and Attorney and create a Asset Protection plan and structure.

That in turn may depend on the type of auction; foreclosure, tax, public etc.

There is no "public offering."

The only reason they are hesitating is because they are protecting themselves.