Do so in a calm, professional manner, but set the tone that the rules are to be followed.  

I've been reading up on best landlord practices and gathering all the documents I'm going to need to cover myself (I will be self-managing). 

If yo found a 3/4 plex for let's say 200k even FHA owner occupied you're going to need at least $10k to close, who knows how much to make sure the other units are livable (BTW, you should live in the smallest, crappiest unit), and reserves or access to credit to repair the inevitable things that will come up.

However, running out of capital to invest is not the perfect argument it's crafted to be since the reason we all went into real estate as an asset class to begin with was that we could always partner with banks to fund our deals.The magic of only coming up with a fraction of the cost ensures you are always going into any deal with a partner, except the bank is always the passive partner that is never going to need a K-1 or an offering memorandum.

This could be a huge lawsuit in and of itself.However, you have indicated to me that it is not your desire or intention to pursue any type of legal action against these people unless they double down and respond in the same negative tone to this response.

If you can find a property that is in need of a lot scrape or retrofit, but is in proximity to a grocery center with good access and visibility, their is likely several ways to "skin that cat" from a build to suit to a ground lease, etc.  

Put more skin in the game.

How long do you plan to own the property and what do you expect it to need during your ownership.

This could be a huge lawsuit in and of itself.However, you have indicated to me that it is not your desire or intention to pursue any type of legal action against these people unless they double down and respond in the same negative tone to this response.

I am also going to move the fireplace to the center of the living room (under the bear skin), and it will be a river rock surround.