Or How can he go about this ?

I have 2 question Can he the owner do some kind of finance is he still has a mortgage on the duplex.What does a deal like this look like.

Can he get a mortgage loan on sheriff deed. 

Can he 1031 into an LLC?

Can he do this?  

My college and potential partner,have good credit score (~750+),but he had a public record.The record is account paid,but information is still in his credit report and it is said the record will not removed until 2019.My concern is that can he still get mortgage from lenders?

How can he get the property under contract (tie it up) so that no one else is able to purchase it while he gets the remaining cash together?  

EDIT: Can he do an exchange to a rental property here in San Diego then convert that rental property to a primary residence?

Can he move part of that money to a SDIRA and invest in my business.

I know that is also considered a FHA but can he own his FHA house and also get a 203k.