Then, download the BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide and start reading some more!!

Ultimately for me it comes down to education, given that we are a very close family, it's important for me to know it's the right thing to do.

He also wrote a good e-book on the topic, named The Ultimate Guide to Buying Apartment Buildings with Private Money, which I recommend.Two other sources of good insight from those who recently got started raising capital for apartment syndications are:1. 

It's ultimately up to you what you check off but you always want a way out of the deal depending on what is found.  

The ultimate lesson here is, it's not the ones you walk away from that hurt you.

That's been great on the first 3 houses I've bought and ultimately sold.

You should work through the Ultimate Beginners Guide.

Id recommend reading the Ultimate Beginners Guide to Real Estate Investing by Brandon Turner, attend local REIA meetings regularly, and reach out the BP community with any questions and concerns you may have.

Read the Ultimate Beginners Guide and get involved in the landlord forum.  

It depends - as a seller you ultimately have more flexibility in choosing to whom you lend.If you know the buyer, you might be willing to loan up to 90% LTV, whereas most banks want 80% or lower.