Some sellers may sound motivated but then they have an unreasonable number in mind that will take some hard nose negotiating on your end to make a deal happen.

You passed the first hurdle by moving here during the hurricane season and not having a tropical storm mess up your move.

It's very easy and getting over the non-existent mental hurdle of "it can't be done" or "it's hard to do" will open up your potential investment portfolio to "the best investments", instead of "the best investments right by me."

That is a huge hurdle for everyone, and I empathize with you! 

The biggest hurdle is having the funds to complete the entire project.

I've looked at the Homestyle program, which isn't specific to duplex conversion but is open to investors with a 15% down payment.What would be the legal hurdle to creating one single family property out of one duplex--particularly if it's done fairly often?

I am going to outline my obstacles and ask if anyone knows how to get past these hurdles.

I know analysis paralysis is the biggest hurdle for most wannabe real estate investors, but I also don't want to jump in if it's advised to wait until I set- up a more permanent residence.

Would it be unreasonable to ask for a mix of this and a typical ground lease, where we would pay monthly rent until market value has been reached, at which point rent would go away? 

Am I being unreasonable in thinking this is excessive?