The more you manage money for others, the more you have liability to deliver.

Specifically - how do I structure the deal to be appealing for my parents, while reducing tax liability for both parties?

If you're looking for limited liability and tax benefits then yes.If you will be needing to get financing from a traditional lender then it may make it more difficult until you have a track record. 

The workshop will cover flipping houses, raising capital, protecting assets and reducing tax liability, working with contractors, agents, and other professionals, marketing strategies, using buy-and-hold investment strategies, and analyzing deals.

This still offers the liability protection of the LLC, but since the Land Trust is considered the entity that is "doing business" in the state in question you aren't required to pay the additional foreign filing fees. 

If you are 50/50 owners, the bank will look at both of your income, assets, liabilities combined.

If you use an entity such as a Series LLC you can actually operate all your properties from a single bank account if you want, but each property can be placed in it's own liability compartment.

One strategy I have seen to work around this transfer issue is through the use of a Land Trust, as described by the article I linked - you can get the beneficial financing available in your personal name and the liability protection of the LLC this way.2. financing terms: if you do not abide by the terms of the note than the lender can pull the note. so if you are planning on using the property for anything outside of what the agreement states, the lender has the legal right to recall the note.

We found a property where the numbers made sense, so we put in an offer within 12 hours of it hitting the mls.We knew we wanted to begin reducing our living expenses, so we wanted to get out of our Single Family (liability) and move into a small Multi-Family (asset).

Assets + liabilities = equityAssets = equity - liabilities $5,000,000 = $500,000 - ( -$4,500,000)You Buy an apartment complex for $5 million with a $4.5 million mortgage.