But of course were running into the same issues as everyone else, finding a property that actually cash flows, specifically when rented out the traditional way with just one person on the lease.

Tenants save money when using a shared meter, so there's plenty of room for error when calculating how to distribute the charges.

I need a budgetary quote for the construction of the duplex to help me run my numbers.

This seems unlikely in the long run. you are forgetting that someone is paying down your principal for you so you need to take that into consideration. 

The problem you're going to run into is Fannie/Freddie doesn't allow second home loans on anything but a single family residence (yes can be condo, townhouse, etc. just not 2-4 unit) so you're automatically thrown into the investment loan world.

2) The minimum hours required are 750 hrs, but if running a short term rental, 100 hrs is supposed to be adequate, is that still true ?

First - You should be investing to make money and a return.

Once again you really have to run the #'s yourself (going to be impacted by the rate you get) - make sure to include the PM charge when you use their worksheet - should be fairly close.

Purchase price: $240,000 Cash invested: $60,000 I purchased this duplex in distressed condition using owner financing for $240K and secured a $60K hard money loan for renovations.

You won't run into too many with the quality housing, but there might be a few good Sec 8 homes that you get a good deal on and you want to be prepared.Otherwise, pay special attention to the finishes you use as the quality of finishes can leverage an extra 10-20k in appraised value which can get you the financing/refi that you need.Happy to connect and help where I can!