it would not be unethical, you are loaning money from one business, or personal, to another business. just make sure there are legal documents to follow the transactions with any terms of the arrangement just to show it is a business transaction.

Assuming that “the deals you can’t pass up” are exceptional it should not be hard to make an arrangement with experienced flipper to share some profits and mentor you while you are helping him to refurbish the property.

We pretty much expect that the heirs will accept it, and thereby allow the offer to be presented to the bank, so that they (the bank) can then arrange to have an appraisal done—which, I've been told must be done by an FHA-approved appraiser.From what I understand, the bank will only accept our offer if it is within 95% of the appraised value of the property.  

If you are forced to do so then to protect yourself I would give the tenant 24 hour notice that you are changing locks and establish arrangements for how he can get a copy of the key.As far as entry.  

I really have no idea what's a typical arrangement, and I don't want to A) get screwed or 2) look stupid.

I know, I've contemplated selling because the Minneapolis market is so crazy.

Make arrangement to meet with the tenants and get the details first hand.

@Robert Andrade Hi Robert, yes we are contemplating both non-owner occupied financing, which would likely require a 25-30% downpayment with investor based financing, or alternatively an FHA route with a 3.5-5% downpayment + PMI.

My particular focus is buy and hold rental properties, but I'm sure we could all stand to benefit from learning about how 50% partners engaged in other areas of REI handle the question of, "Who does what, and how do we assign value to what we're doing, so we can both feel comfortable in our abilities to judge how close we are to an equitable arrangement?". 

I select the most likely best candidate and arrange to meet with them after doing personal background screening.