Him and His wife show around $88k and $99k combined income for the years 2014 and 2015 respectively.

My partners and I toured the vacants and then sat with the owner and his wife and answered their questions about our business, discussed our respective backgrounds, and tried to learn their motivation.

Treat their requests with respect and maintain reasonable boundaries.

Respectfully, I disagree with Thomas S. about month to month leases (MTM).  

With respect to transfer taxes, Delaware Statutory Trusts are employed in some jurisdictions to reduce transfer taxes associated with transfers of title.

With all due respect I thought that was the whole idea behind the Bigger Pockets forums.

No, but have been to their operations and training- very respected. 

-you need to have a good team on the ground-you need to have access to non-traditional lenders (local initiatives banks/thrusts, local hard money lenders, even the city)-you need to understand your exit strategy is another section 8 investor-you need to be/think different-you need to look for people looking for long term renting;-you need to screen your prospective tenants like crazy-you need to be respectful , understanding, professional and by the book/letter of the law+letter of your lease, all-at-the-same-time!

The Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) is consistently voted one of the best places to live/work/play, thanks in large part to the local job economy and three major universities in each of those cities (NC State, Duke, and UNC, respectively).

Respectfully,Jason Schooely