---one has been in place about 1 year; just started a new 1 year lease; seller says he is a PITA and it typically late on his rent, but pays the lease-ordered $25/day late fee-Seller said he wants to enter an owner carry / owner finance scenario, as he wants to spread out his tax liabilityHere's where I need your advice:-Seller paid $150k for both properties four years ago. 

I use Chase quickpay for some of my tenants that also bank at Chase it is really easy there are no fees and you only have to give them your email address for them to be able to send you money.

They probably won't charge you crazy fees and they trust you more. 

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.An LLC is a good idea if you're worried about liability in that as @Christopher Phillips said, 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). 

Remember as people age they sometimes forget to do things and you don't want them racking up fees by forgetting to make payments.

Are you saying you need assistance for the downpayment, appraisal, inspection fees, etc?  

If you were crushing it in the rental world and needed a place to park your cash then rates would factor in much more.

Also, i would think that even if it is in the lease that we "forfeit our security deposit" this goes against what is considered a lawful application of the security deposit in the state of Ohio. if there was an "early termination fee" that could have been DEDUCTED from the security deposit then thats different.

As far as the tax benefits and investing, it shouldn't be the deciding factor of an investment, but it is a fringe benefit.

In the Bay Area could I find a realtor who would handle all the transactions for a flat fee, say $5-10k, which would be 1-1.5% of purchase.