Is there a cleaner way to transfer?  

They were contemplating selling to me knowing I'm a real estate investor hoping that I could rent back to them for a lifetime lease while transferring ownership of the property to me, and I'd be responsible for taxes/insurance/remaining mortgage.I've done some research and it seems to be similar to a Home Reversion which is fairly common in European markets.

Converted the apartment to a full time rental property, up till now, where I just got this feeling that it's likely better to sell and re-invest elsewhere than to keep it as maintenance costs are starting to rise, and the complex's neighbors are starting to degrade.As a result, I think I'm about to get thrown into the deep end of having to do a 1031 transfer as a first play into doing RE investment, so there's some sense of urgency as well, which is not comfortable.I'm by no means a pro, and by day I'm a full time manager at a startup, running technical sales.

In many states, "wholesaling" requires paying the transfer taxes twice.

Is there a way to offer a lesser down payment than what the seller owes on the property, such as transferring their existing loan to me?  

But this discussion should ultimately wind up being a discussion on what is Internal Rate of Returns (IRR).Here is the dictionary definition of Cash Flow:"The Total Amount of money being transferred into and out of a business, especially as affecting liquidity."

Yes, you can execute a seller financing deal if there is an existing mortgage, just make sure that the seller’s existing mortgage contract does not have a “due on sale clause” making the ~45k balance due upon the property transfer.

Do we need to transfer title to the tenant at closing?

If folks are well off enough to pay 3 months rent up-front they can afford to live in a hotel for a weekend while they find somewhere that fits their needs.In this particular case (especially with mentioning "disabled veteran" which is very common in scams), I imagine they'll pay the 3 months, then just before move-in date will request a partial refund because work transferred them out of the country, and after you do so their check will bounce and you'll be out a ton of $$$.

Then I dropped him off at his mom's house.I also refunded his deposit less the utility reconnect fees that were due since he had one disconnected instead of having it transferred to me in an orderly fashion, despite the fact that there was damage in the unit such as a broken door where he'd locked himself out, and fire damage where it appeared charcoal spilled and the deck caught on fire, and more...He'd lived there several years and paid fine prior to his break up.I have more stories but mention this one since it's one I've already documented on BP.Other than just listening and talking to tenants who want/need someone to listen or talk with, when I go above and beyond it's either anonymously or in a professional/business sort of way.