One of my wholesale lenders used to be willing to finance these, I can't remember the CLTV requirement of the top.

One group wants housing prices to increase, the other wants them to decrease. 

That does not mean you are getting the best one unfortunately.

The early portion of my career was buying turnkey rentals, like the one you described. 

The high end is the 20 or so co ops on 5th Avenue or Park Ave (one is on East End Avenue) that require liquid assets of $100 million + to gain board approval.  

With one duplex you should be focused on selling 99.9% of the time and .1% on the duplex.

How I would go about it is bring a deal to someone ( a friend or colleague) that I knew had money, offer them the terms I have in mind and continue until I find one.

I still have one house with some existing K&T.

One housing authority wouldn’t even entertain the request, while another was open to it because it was an affordable housing property, requiring just an application for the exemption.From my experience, dealing with government agencies, especially when trying to save money or get financial benefits, can be a slow process.

If you aren't changing at least one small detail you are probably doing it wrong or not fully engaged, in each update session.