You will have to find someone who will have the authority to act for the estate. 

Should we be more aggressive in purchasing SFH for better tax advantages compared to passive MF investing?

There’s other contingencies you can use too, financing, feasibility, environmental, neighborhood review...Have your DD start the 1st business day after they provide you with all the documents, P&L sure, but also you’d want title docs, details on mechanicals like age, repair history and warranty status, insurance claim history for the last 5 years, every scrap of detail on any pending claims, zoning use confirmation from relevant govt entity, copies of all docs they have received from any govt authority related to the property for the past 5 years... there you’d be looking for code violations, notices from EPA or fire marshal, etc.  

Real estate and stock market investing are not comparable..nor are they alternatives for one set of goals. 

It can be helpful to have an authority figure like your closing attorney to explain the way deals are typically done with the Seller.We've put up earnest money deposits large and small, slowly and immediately to not only closing attorneys but also directly in the Sellers' hands.

:PFor book authors like yourself, things are often a bit silly.

@Manny CirinoMy favorite is blue ocean opportunities in commercial real estate - incredibly motivating and detailed plus a real story of one of the best real estate gurus whom I met after that and applied his strategy to make money successfullyBtw he practically gives the book away for $2 to help others - well Cherif Medawar, the author is worth millions so he can afford it but the key thing is the content is amazing https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Ocean-Opportunities-Commercial-Estate-ebook/dp/B00EKNF71U

I'm not unhappy at all with the guys I used, just thought the price was steep as compared to other trades.

@Joseph J Deza Midwest would be your best bet.Because you can still find cheap and cash flowing properties as compared to rest of the country.

Total debts come to about $97k, the appraisal came in at $120k, but comparable sales in this area are $85k at best.