Surprisingly, I did happen to come up on 25000 cash.

All that leaning you've been doing with just flow right out of you; you watch, you'll be surprised how much you've learned how to ask questions.

Appraisals should be be an issue for you relaitve ti purchase price as all of my appraisals in the area have been surprisingly high. maybe consider a house that needs work a lot of times only investors will be interested and they typically come in at lower offers.I also know some great brokers in the area if you are interested.

This will cost you at least $500 but it may save you from buying a property and being surprised after you have already completed the repairs so I personally think it's worth it and I would pay that many times over to avoid a bad project.

You'd be surprised how much damage an unscrupulous person can do before being evicted.

Here’s a couple links to get you started:Applicable Federal Rate (AFR) DefinitionThe tax-smart way to loan money to family membersThose links will just give you a basic understanding of what it is, but double check with your tax professional to be sure if/how it might apply in your specific situation so you or your friend don’t get hit with any unexpected surprises later on. 

If this is the case, I'm surprised banks would ever lend on cliff-side mansions in California. 

So I'm not surprised he "isn't optomistic". 

I would venture to guess a fixed rate product would be better, no prepayment penalty, less chance for the "chef surprise" down the road.

If the property manager allows it (I'm actually surprised they do) I'd be all for it myself.