I am making two assumptions here (1 - the borrower is not bankable and 2 - they are stretching to make the payment work) which means the investor is going to want a much higher yield than 6 or 8%, and the 30 year term will limit your potential buyers.

I found a local lender who offered a pretty interesting product (at least from the standard stuff I've seen)First Time Home OwnersOnly 5% DownNO PMI3.75% InterestIncome Limits Waived for the Area we are LookingProperty we are looking at is asking $399k but we believe $350 is much more fair.

I’m trying to establish an upper limit for offers.Thanks for the help!

I have very limited information obviously.

As you might have guessed, my knowledge on a real estate deal is very limited.

Her limit is 90 min train ride from GC which basically puts us at Fairfield Metro as the max.  

Thank you for your service and congratulations on taking the first steps towards REI and financial freedom.While CA can be a tough market, you have a few powerful tools at your disposal many do not.

You also have the Hard Money loan route if you absolutely must move forward with the deal.If your family has money, why not use that monies to fix your credit and in turn you can pay them back when you run into a good deal or share profits on a good deal.Cash is king but like in the game of chess, credit represents a Queen which is the most powerful asset you can have in this game called RE.

Its super funny, those who think rent control is a good thing, and want to limit the amount of monies that property owners collect. 

Will depend on several factors like the type of property, type of tenants, your risk tolerance, other assets you own, your estate planning, laws where the property is located, etc.Any lawsuits would be limited to the assets of the LLC and not your personal assets (assuming you run the LLC appropriately and the corporate veil is not pierced).