For the individual investor, you will need to sift through and find a few opportunities.   

I'd like to pop the top and expand the footprint of the studio and possibly add a 2nd bathroom in order to convert it into a 2bed/2bath with long term goal of selling it as a townhouse (all 3 units are already individually deeded, individually metered with gas and electric, have their own furnaces and water heaters, etc.).

You need to be the one generating leads.

I purchased land and subdivided the land into separate lots with individual addresses.

I saw a two individual houses on a single huge lot  in LA County.

Hard to say what a individual institution will consider but for th emost part th escore is th emajor deciding factor.

@Dave Foster or others too, Back to the question of the 'partnership' part of things.....I think this is not allowed, but thought I would check before I throw the idea out the window ;-)Seller A wants to get rid of one of his individually held rentals so he can start to slow down.

Even fewer understand real estate investing - and those agents are usually investors themselves who are busy finding their own deals.I would suggest trying to reach out to each individual listing agent for each property that you are interested in.

I have tried every marketing advertising out there & nothing has worked out for me, im tired of saying nothing is working for me and no matter how good my Ads are or how many times i change it up i can not generate any leads any new people, nothing is working.

A private money lender is a private individual you know or have a relationship with such as a family member friend, business associate, dentist, doctor, etc and they are typically not licensed, they are not advertising or looking for you, you need to find them.