They should be able to fill you in w the status of the matter and how you should go about trying to buy it; you may need court approval of the sale.

Next, the sales professional regularly sells such assets day in and day out, which is the very definition of experience and market familiarity, owning an asset does, let's see, oh that's right, absolutely 0 for market experience in transactional value status. 

@Peter SanchezAnd that $200 a month is usually “made” by buying the products yourself, so you can meet some sort of false “goal” or reach the next “level” or achieve “____ status”.

3) Finding a partnership with someone who has a W2 position - The thing is, I have more than enough cash to do 20% down and it feels like I would be getting into a partnership just for a W2 status, which doesn't seem like a very good tradeoff to share everything 50/50 (especially when my employer will be transitioning me to a W2 later in the year). 

Just as great deals can be found at market troughs, they can also be found at market peaks.That being said, cyclical trends aside, by just looking at the MLS ( and mind you the MLS is probably not the best way to determine the status of the market) some MFs that I wouldn't touch with a 10 ft pole are now being bought at a premium.On a secular trend, with wealth inequality increasing, capital replacing entry level knowledge related roles, the rise of white collar temporary & contingent employment in corporate america, stagnant wages, and a dysfunctional political system that supports Capital over labor (Citizens United). 

An old man gave me marital advise he said, "do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy?"

It seems like it would have been ideal to have been provided with a little bit more information on the tenants you were about to inherit, and I'm not sure how that would have worked with verification of current lease status? 

As very busy professional, with accredited investor status,  I want to find a low risk investment preferably passive to park my money in case the market goes south.  

I'd say a lot of your status is in your own head and if you are worried about how people are rating you, you won't be happy.

Familial status (having children) is a protected class from discrimination.