Don't attempt to figure things out on your own or act as a GC or PM when you are using other people's money. 

(You say it’s worth about $100k more than you’re paying so figure an extra $15k.)Maybe you’d be better off partnering with the parents unless they have zero interest?

Working to figure out which route has the best conversion rates when targeting specific neighborhoods.

Contractors are not able to figure this out, what kind of engineer should I look for?

I know you said you don’t expect anything major on the properties soon, but I would take a careful look at what is most likely to need to be replaced soon and figure out how you would pay for that if it needed to be done tomorrow.

I'm only getting into real estate now, with one property in Tokyo (single family home) and one condo in Waikiki.I had largely dismissed investing in Japan for the reasons @David Gotsill mentioned -- figuring that BRRRR wouldn't really work here unless you have a property in prime location right next to a popular train or subway station.

I figured lowest money out of pocket was the best way to go, and in this case FHA would provide the lowest downpayment.

My agent is saying that we are unable to split the contract that way (or reduce the purchase price), so I'm trying to figure out options.

For some reason I got a notification in this old thread and figured I would chime in.

Figure out a way to narrow it down.