@Ko Kashiwagi hit the nail on the head.

Hi - I’m relatively new to the real estate game and am just starting to read multiple books involving this topic.I noticed a house being cleaned up two weeks ago, talked to maintenance people, and was in the right place at the right time to talk to the owner.

Sometimes people get in over their head and find it easy to use other's people money thinking they can later "reimburse" them. 

First, it seems weird and possibly illegal for people at the county level to threaten to remove a state licensed contractors license and threaten it over 6k. honestly I would take 1k from the possible 6k in question and hire a lawyer.

People create funky names for LLCs all the time.There are several considerations that can go into the analysis of whether you need an LLC or whether a large insurance policy will suffice.

There's less people buying 2 flats, therefore there's not as much competition to buy.

They attract people who are serious about investing and open to collaboration.And of course, don’t forget about local real estate agents and brokers who specialize in investment properties.

And laugh at people that ask what your fax number is.

Fewer investors are looking which means your competing with fewer people and you have a better chance of buying an appropriately priced property.

Yes, sharing our actual costs,  we need more housing but also letting people get past some of the big unknowns.