I'm gonna play a small hand and see if I can get a counter offer accepted for the 2 empty lots next to my personal home.

I personally have used Chase business checking and their credit cards that offer 15-18 months 0 APR.

Tenant also agrees to the following:-All drains, waste pipes, and plumbing are accepted as clear by Tenant at the time of occupancy, and any material blocking them after occupancy shall be repaired at Landlord’s cost, unless determined by repair person that such blockage occurred during the time Tenant controlled the Premises and due to some fault or negligence of Tenant, specifically excluding blockages caused by roots or backups from the street.

Rent the other side of the duplex to a person you then employ as a full-time (or part-time) nanny.

The IRA funds would not be able to be combined with other personal funds as in your note above. 

Additionally, I proposed introducing new retail products, and the owner has offered me a 40% share in return for my expertise in retail.

They are saying if a person lived on the property for more than 14 days contiguously then their damages can't be considered vandalism.

Would I be able to deduct depreciation against my personal w2 income without having rental income for the year? 

I have about $300 on my credit cards (just finally paid them off for the most part, and have about $20,000 limit).My cash on hand is relatively light, but what my plan was was to find some single family homes in the north Detroit area (currently anywhere from $40-$60k and put about $15-20k tops into any repairs or fixes (not looking for total rehabs, mostly something I can do some small repairs here and there and paint, personally I am knowledgeable about renovating up until complex electric and plumbing).

Most of the sites I've found seem to be more targeted towards investors, and not the person bringing the deal opportunity.