Also, any advice for proposing seller financing to a seller?

Many attorneys don't know crap, and will practice/learn on your dollar.I've read many articles from the attorneys below,  and believe they are seriousabout staying up to date with recent legislation.

After a brief phone introduction, we went to the homeowners house and chatted with them for a few hours, after figuring out what it was they wanted I made them a proposal and it stuck.

I have an attachment proposal that can be provided by email upon request, please review it carefully.

If your mom is looking to retire, maybe you can propose to buy the property with seller finance, and that way she gets a steady monthly payment with good interest and you can decide how you want to deal with the property.

If the general public sees us as neutral "housing providers" instead of evil landlords they may be less willing to vote in legislation which ultimately attempts to control our rights.

There is a 26% tax credit when solar panels are installed this year, but that credit goes down to 22% next year, and goes away completely after that unless legislation changes soon. 

The offer I proposed was to purchase the property subject to the existing mortgage and then have him carry back the remaining balance and make him monthly payments.

@Gregory Murphy Yes, what you propose should work, as long as you can avoid the squatters and crooks.You might want to read our series about “How to Screen Applicants like a Pro”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/93296-how-to-screen-applicants-like-a-pro-part-1-verifying-credit-reports

unless the area  of the new property is  very  dpressed-  and  unless this property has  been on the markets for a long time  - I  doubt your  offer  will  have  much  chance  to be  accepted  or  even  countered  ( as its  so low)  ......if you are able to get  soem  traction on this  idea , several things to note  on it  1) make sure you are  getting accurate  pricing for the  new loan and  also a rate lock thats  long  enought to cover to the closing date (  this is a  large  issue  on new  construction )  2) make sure you are using an  accurate  future property tax  figure  in your number  crunching  ( versus  using the raw land   assesment  amount  3) make sure that the lender you are using  is able to  pre approved you  using the  full  heloc  payment amount aas well as the  new proposed payment  4) if needed- there are loan programs that allow  as  little asa  15% down payment