Haven't used them, but so far I only know of one lender that goes down to $50k in some instances.

If you had a third party licensed company then they "may" allow it that instance but even then sometimes they say no.

No, it's an "this, that, and if, but, when, or" instance. 

You can either put it in a LLC with both of us as owners or you could create a LLC which is owned by each of your individual LLC’sIn the latter instance it would be easier for one of you to sell your interest

In one instance, I offered $125,000 over the asking price and still lost.

For instance, if your property is listed for sale below its appraised value or if you reduce the asking price during the listing period, most lenders base their lending decisions on the lower of the two values.

Depending on the property and the deal, an experienced investor may want more than a 30% spread (and in some deals, they may be willing to take less than a 30% spread--for instance, if the property will produce incredible cashflow after rehab, they may accept a lower spread). 

For instance, in a scenario where several properties in an area are sold at a discount due to defaults, these sales set a new standard for cap rates in that area.

For instance, I once asked a family friend to loan me some money for an investment property.

However in many instances, the total return on investment within a syndication will not be as high as a well managed property that is purchased at the correct price.