Is not only how much you paid,  you need to pay right base on you resources.Find a good realtor that knows the market.good luckLuis Maqueira MMP

For example, you can use credit cards for vacations you can't pay for. 

I want to offer her $350,000 for the condo (its a fair price for it), 5% down payment ($17,500) and pay her monthly $2,000 for 3 years, after which I would refinance and pay her out.

Dear Christopher,I don't think you will have a problem...because your target population should be cash-pay clients, not Medicaid/Medicare recipients.

I suspect that there is a lot of pressure coming from folks who would normally be first time buyers.

The protections are there because if the police can simply put out a squatter it would be simple for landlords to never give their tenants anything in writing and have the police remove anyone they didn't like or who didn't pay as a "squatter."

If you want to find people who will try to help you lose your money, telling them how much money you have and where you will be is a good way to start.You are limiting yourself way too much by focusing on LA, but with $2 million to burn you could likely find some good cash flow if you are paying cash, but you don't sound like the management type just from this.

Better to pay your mortgage instead of someone else's. 

I am going to walk through the home and make sure he has done everything I have asked and that it looks good. is their any other step i need to take before i pay him his final cut or is it time to move on to finding a renter

Keep in mind they are likely paying below market value, so giving them a small amount won't be enough to cover the new market rent that they would be moving to.3.