However, he recently called his bank about the situation and they told him that they have an assumable loan for him to use if he is ready...I am trying to avoid 20% down as I need to repair the property with my cash reserves. 

Total monthly income after expenses and reserves is about $450, or $75 a door.4 performing notes - remaining balance $$185k, purchase price $129k.

Or reach out to family and friends / partner with someone you meet at a local REI meeting.Even if you can purchase the place with little of your own money, make sure you have cash reserves for the unexpected.Good luck!

Once I receive confirmation that they've run the application and see that their credit/criminal/eviction is good, I send them an e-mailed in-house application that lists all the stuff that SmartMove doesn't care about, and I then check that out.In other words, if you do it electronically, there's no way for them to avoid paying the fee.

You also need to have a reserved fund for every no money down house.

Does your research confirm the same thing and is it a factor that you are considering?

Lenders will require at least 6 months reserves based on proposed PITI (principle/interest/taxes/insurance) payment of property your purchasing.

This journey has been VERY trying at times.My first commercial bank got bought out and would no longer loan to out of state investors.My second bank wanted 25% down, plus 6 months worth of reserves for the properties, plus 6 months worth of reserves for my other properties, plus 6 months worth of reserves for my primary residence (even though it was a commercial loan), plus 6 months worth of my credit card payments, plus the tax returns of the seller, plus the lease agreements with the current tenants.A third broker I was dealing with didn't understand for some reason I wanted it to be a commercial loan even though I repeatedly told him so.A fourth banker finally got it, was responsive, and reasonable.

I will definitely have reserve cash if issues arise, but if I do indeed get a duplex I will make sure that everything is updated so the risk is hopefully lower due to my diligence.

We are really busting our butts on the units we have because we can have them paid off in 5 years from the point of purchase.We use airbnb.com as our primary reservation portal.