I know a lot of investors wouldn't want to go this route because they want to hedge their bets ("What if I don't make much money, then I'll still have to pay them interest!")

Investors are still a small percentage of total transactions. 

To do a buy - to - let here in the u.k it requires a 20% deposit which is a lot and requires around £3k of fees in total per property.To give you an idea of numbers I’m buying the property at about10-15k BMV and with a little work inside I know there is 20k of equity in the house .

It's totally possible, but harder than most people realize right now.  

I agree with the accountants who said distributing and contributing is totally fine. 

I am interested in a Tri-plex with all three units currently rented at about $1600 per month total( A little over $500 per unit, per month).

My question is about estimating total settlement costs as the buyer. 

If you know the market well enough, then lack of disclosure is not totally a reason to abandon discussions though you should have some warning flags up. 

6 units in total.

Numbers = $280k purchase, 25% down (required for MF investment properties), total mortgage all-in with Taxes = $1,500/month.