I'm looking at a 8 unit with near identical #s and I suspect near identical problems, so I am living vicariously through you right now.The frustration is really heavy, but when you get the place turned the cashflow will be awesome!

It is virtually impossible to do from overseas although there are some online banks that make the process possible - but if they have no way to confirm your identity (credit check, address confirmation...) federal regulations make it near impossible.

I am curious to which property in general would make more sense if all the numbers were identical.

We use identical hardware for every house. 

Other than that, most of the stuff you read around here about VA loans for SFR, and conventional loans for MFR, will be ballpark identically applicable to you.There are many Bay Area members on BP that are super active and helpful, don't hesitate to reach out to anyone!

., and those services verify the identity of those applying, with us providing nothing more than the applicant's name/e-mail address.

Freddie's LLPAs are basically identical, almost like both corporations are under federal conservatorship or something.The easiest way to think about those is to add them up, and that's how much it would cost to buy the rate down to what you'd get on a SFR owner occupant mortgage.

I'm not sure about the best steps to create his US identity. 

You can learn a lot from them and you can take out the pieces that fit into your Investor Identity. 

The only person this is a good investment for is the people convincing others to use their credit identities for this scam.