She had three screaming, crying, playful, energetic kids at home.

And i can relate to the beginning of your story I was looking at a duplex for my first deal and primary home for a bit but the sense of no money comes into play given that my area is not that cheep and it is some what difficult to find a fixer upper in tustin. other than trying to obtain an FHA loan is there another way to do a lower down on a property?

I am looking at a package deal of 21 SFR properties in southern Indiana though a different animal it will be interesting to see how your deals play out.

I don't see any of them playing in the Super Bowl, for that you need a play book and a rule book.Things change in RE, we are constantly having to adapt and keep up.

What are some good ways to figure out how motivated he is to sell and what numbers he might be willing to play with?

I was thinking a sun room, child play area (while parent in the kitchen) or an office.

This should be interesting to see how this one plays out...here is the link to the article:Click here

This should be interesting to see how this plays out, below is the link for the article:Article

There are definitely other factors at play with your deal that I'm not experienced enough to comment on - but thought I'd chime in in the area I do know about. 

Homes are always coming on the market, there is always a turn over of inventory regardless of economic times or who is playing.