Getting approved for a loan will boil down to one thing: the bank's belief in your ability to faithfully pay back the loan without any issues.

I would perhaps consider doing only one half and then living in the other and renovating as I go and do that out of pocket. thanks for the info about what rate you got, that solidifies my belief of getting a low 4% rate. 

” (35 ILCS 200/15-175) The amount of exemption is the increase in the current year’s equalized assessed value (EAV), above the 1977 EAV, up to a maximum of $7,000 in Cook County and $6,000 in all other counties.Our scenario is my mother and step dad live in a SFR of ours and their rent is solely based on the total costs of the property (mortgage, insurance, and property taxes).

That would be equal to adding 6 nfl football teams.

Will,In Alabama, you must have a cashiers check equal to or greater than the total purchase price IN HAND when you go to the courthouse.

Also I think if I compare equal amounts of hard work at my job vs. running a real estate investment business, I will make more in the latter.

You normally want to sell a property that is at a loss during years of higher tax rates.You normally want to sell a property at a gain during years of lower tax rates.With all else being equal - 2018 tax rates were lower than they were in 2017.

The second and more nuanced dynamic is that the 04 season followed by an equally nasty 05 spelled the peak and end of the real estate boom in Florida.  

Seems to me that if your sales contract says that you are to receive the security deposit then you are entitled to an amount equal to what the leases state, if they say that an amount was collected and he did not collect then shame on him, if the leases say that $0 security deposit was collected then shame on you for not catching it move on with life.

I hope you find equal success in real estate investing!