Its awesome to see that you're interested in investing in real estate and you've found a great place to go ahead and learn more about it.That's certainly a lot of great questions you have... and deserve answers to before hiring anyone in particular. 

Save up the 3% or whatever you need as a downpayment (or ask for a gift from family members that want to see you get ahead), and make an offer that has the seller cover your closing costs.  

But I went ahead because my goal was buy and hold with 100/unit/mo longterm and it seems to do that assuming I can manage the transition from current rent to target rent.  

In order to get ahead of the pack (ie. obtain "bigger pockets" more quickly), a better question would be: Is this Duplex UNDER priced (because unless it is, why be interested)?!

At that point, you'd still be way ahead than most people. 

If a home is sitting on the market for more than a month or so, go ahead and offer lower.

I'm looking forward to great times ahead.

In that entity structure your LLC will give you that asset protection and the trust is the vehicle to transfer deed.  

If you want to be more pro-active - drive your vehicle to that vacancy -Talk to as many neighbors as you can - let them know that you are interested in that property (or others that they may be able to refer you to) some neighbors won't cooperate with you since they may think you are a bill collector.Get the tax ID of the ownershipGo to white pages - search for the ownersPut a notice on the door for the owner to call youCheck to see if it has housing code violationsLiens - see if you can buy the lien and foreclose (or take an option to buy the lien - forecloses on your option)Check to see if it is in Tax Sale - contract the tax sale purchaser to see if you can take assignment of their positionCheck to see if it is in foreclosureMake sure you look at the back of the houses - talk to the neighbor at the rear of the housesFind out if it has been listed - by whom and for how long - call the real estate agent (they are the ones who know how to contract the owner) ask the agent "are you still accepting offers on that property?"

You are already ahead of most who decide to explore REI by taking that first step!