A $800/month duplex is not good rent and likely in a marginal area of New Orleans.

The same is true with debt taken on by businesses or by margin debt in stock investing.

I have clients purchase with HELOC or margin accounts all the time. 

It drastically cuts into the profits margins.  

In the last few years Fayetteville has become VERY competitive, and while lots of money can still be made there, the margins are certainly shrinking.

You would typically see new developments in more rural area with 200+ lots where there are higher margins and all the extra civil engineering work / infrastructure is worth it.I would probably try to find a smaller builder.

So any type of questionable or marginal loan they like to CYA heavily.

If you're still working on your current home and the new one at the same time, you might end up carrying expenses for both properties.You need to figure out what the property needs to have done to it and then calculate the numbers to find out what your maximum potential offer will be to protect your profit margins and give yourself an out if you had to rent it and still cash flow.

With that out of the way, I think that <$100 total cash flow for a duplex is a little bit to slim of a margin.

Stanley called these men "Marginal Bobs."