When he didn't respond I thought it would be a good idea to get another agent involved, so, I did.

Morristown around Sussex ave/Grant st. area or western ave (if you have a big down payment) and Summit (less familiar but hear they have a lot more duplexs) are probably your best bets when looking.

If you don't want to go the partner or hard money lender route, your only bet is to put your own money and use the cash flow and your savings to purchase properties when you have the funds. 

I bet your deck replacement is a 2-3 day job, right?

Are you prepared to spend every weekend either involved in wedding events, or delegating to other folks and making arrangements to be away from your property?

Would it make sense to get a realtor involved even when I initially made contact with the homeowner?

It's something that's been ingrained in any Agent / Property Manager as long as I've been involved, so I had to research to find it:https://tinyurl.com/yaghesj3 If you don’t have a legal justification to break your lease, the good news is that you may still be off the hook for paying all the rent due for the remaining lease term.

I bet you find that the 5 plex is just not going to work, not in the greater NOLA area.As for lenders, you would be looking for a local bank and does new construction commercial development loans.

I got involved the day before auction and now its been pushed back 2 months.

Given the repair needs on the building, I'd bet the renovations will be greater than $150k.