Let them know you are shopping and tell them to give you their best offer (all on the same day), and state you will go with whomever can save you the most money. 

Start by talking to a cross-border CPA and attorney to handle taxes and legal structures properly.

Why can't you raise money with your current track record and experience?

They loved it because they got some play money right away and steady income each month without having to deal with toilets and tenants.

They are very persistent in raising money for their other funds once you’ve invested in one…which makes me further suspicious.   

However, before you do so you should ensure that your revenue from rental income covers ALL your property expenses in the townhome, including mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance/repairs, vacancy, property management, etc...

Lastly funding developer who has 3 subdivisions going in WA DC market. these are big time deals and with our funds for the soft costs  500 k to 1 mil on each project my client is going to make  sit down  but probably over 10 million net  life changing money and well we will do good too !!

For lenders, I have access to private money lenders or if you want to go the traditional route, I recommend checking out Coast to Coast - Jeff Weller. 

Typically, the adjustments I see on appraisals for basements are more flat rate adjustments. 10k is usually the number I've seen.What stinks is that there are a couple of model types that have below grade space where the builder, I'm sure, was trying to lower the taxes by having it below grade so the county wouldn't count that space in the assessment.

In my opinion, if you pay a "kicker" to the seller, you're just taking money out of your own pocket and transferring it to a party that is not taking an equity risk in the deal.