Here in California the seller is generally responsible and a standard PSA.

When it flows via a k1 you will get a bump in your debt to income ratio when working with Freddie/Fannie products versus the standard page 1 carry of your rentals.

I agree with Scott Mac that your interior has to be up to the standard of the others to demand common rent. 

Any of these are potential red flags.Don't allow financing or a finance contingency (it can be a good indication they are selling above market value)Don't allow for your own independent property inspectionAre not realistic with their pro forma's (i.e. they don't include vacancy or maintenance projections or use unrealistically low vacancy factors)Require you to pay for any renovation upfrontSell only in cheap. low end neighborhoodsDon't accurately represent the neighborhood/property classificationDon't have consistent rehab standards for all propertiesDon't provide a scope of work for the propertyCan't provide references of repeat investorsRequire you to close before a tenant is in place

Or is it best to just do a standard 5%?

The detail on felony info is probably standard across sites.

And then he went on to make a major international business based on it including Summits and other things.

My international RE experience is limited to South America, and it looks like I will need to build a forecast model from scratch to properly value the deal as the property and business are generational family-owned and the financials are not exactly GAAP compliant.   

I have looked into doing an offshore sale in international waters to avoid CA tax, but if I take the boat up north I will be paying essentially the same amount of taxes once I get to Seattle.

He has already had to void the lease renewal for one tenant/friend who could not maintain clean standards and has just renegotiated a significant price increase for the second tenant/friend who is falling into the same issue - can't clean up after his dog, clean his bathroom, etc.The point is, without a lease to use as leverage, my buddy would be SOL and left to his own devices to negotiate with the neanderthals he got into bed with.