Hi Gary, the "other structures" portion of your insurance will definitely cover the fence.

He/she will create the legal structure and the documents you need for your syndication. 

There are personal tax considerations, the structure of the investment (sole ownership or ownership with a partner), personal comfortability with risk, the loan products you have access to, personal income, personal debt to income ratios, property income, state of ownership (different states have different rules on transfer tax), and even the future strategy you are planning on taking with your investments etc.

@Chris DonathanHow I understand it is that the cash flow from your rental/s is offset by the depreciation of the bldg/structure.

He does own the property free and clear just FYI, but I wanted to put this out to the group to see if anyone has run into a situation like this before, and if anyone has any suggestions on a way to structure the deal in a way that could reduce the seller's taxable gains so we can put an agreement together.

This seems like a good opportunity for seller financing, because you can structure the deal in a way that works well for you and your mom. 

As far as signing goes - I've had a 4 person structure (all 25% owners) and the operating agreements states that any of the four can sign and conduct business of their behalf without requiring others signatures.

I see a lot of old properties in the market and I am concerned that they might have structural issues.

Depending on your RE business structure you can claim you manage the property for the owner(s).

If the offer is accepted with an inspection contingency, I’ll have my inspector double check all the systems and structure to confirm I did not miss anything.