Per usual consult an attorney or tax professional for your individual situation. 

If these were priced individually they would probably go in the 250 to 275 range.

It’s a very individualized question, but, as a general rule, I think many Pittsburgh buy and hold investors who don’t want the hassle of dealing with Pittsburgh City gov’t stay out of the city limits.  

@Chan Park we as individuals do not have the means nore are we expected to be a sole social program.

Lenders have mentioned that they have minimums for each loan's underlying asset - either a sqft minimum (750sqft) or an appraisal value ($150k), or both - neither of which those parcels meet on an individual basis. 

I am thinking of doing 25/25/25/25 split for real estate equity, individual stocks, employer retirement account, and cash.

Additionally, if you are a silent partner on the investment, this is also considered passive.This law was passed to try to hinder wealthy individuals from using depreciation losses to offset taxable income.

They use a loan committee so you have real people looking at your big picture rather than the individual transaction or strict guidelines. 

After renovations, I purchased the house with a conventional loan back from the cash offer individual with 3% down.

Our town generally sees 10%+ appreciation every year since it’s a very desirable school district. we would like to be able to sell each side of the duplex individually to collectively be able to sell them for much more money.