Hire a local home inspector or contractor to assess the property and provide a detailed report.

@Michael BuskaSTR tax benefits are not related to the REP status.

Inspection rep facetimed me saying hey this is a mess, inspection should NOT have been today, there's leaks everywhere, nothing is ready, etc.  .....I had to pay for the 2nd Inspection2) New build wasn't supposed to have tenants, on the day of 2nd inspection 2 weeks ago, again I get a call from the Inspection rep that there were people living on both sides. 

Some homeowners hire a property manager to manage the other 1-3 units for the owner.

Hi Fergus,If you can handle the workload thats going to come with building the two duplex's, I say go for it.If your going to be biting off more than you can chew, liquidate.It really depends on your risk tolerance at this point.The construction loan is a doable deal as long as you have solid credit, have experience /hire a builder.

Lowes--lets talk Lowes for a minute--if you order about $2500 at a time you can get great discounts but you need to go through the PRO reps (this is relatively new as they are aggressively going after the pro market). 

So I hired a company to pressure wash my apartments (8 units) in New York State and the guy fell off the roof.   

As @Pat Aboukhaled said, hire a public adjuster.

on a BRRRR appraisal in particular... the lender will hire it out to an appraisal company. 

@Colton Kotylo, typically the answer is yes unless you hire another buyer's agent. if you hire a new buyer's agent to represent you then you only have to pay the new agent.