The bank either hasn't yet realized that someone else already owns the property or they're going through the foreclosure process for a procedural reason.

Appraisal: One at 320k and the other one 466k There are potentially 3 people involved in the deal:1- The person who found the deal2- My friend who will buy, sell and take a mortgage on the house3- Me who will put the down payment of 15% ($60,000) and the first six mortgage paymentsHere is the deal: The 2 apartments are coming from a foreclosure, being sold by the bank.

It's a semi-large bank and working with a local credit union seems more appealing (plus the added benefit of proving him completely wrong). 

So also over this time they probably have some great relationships with banks or other investors, and if built up a great track record of no defaults on loans.Or if they had defaults they would have been in the first five or ten deals before they got going.

If you haven't already, I would recommend finding a real estate agent that you trust, and also start talking to lenders (banks, mortgage brokers, credit unions, etc.)

2) What can I do in the meantime to increase my chances of the bank saying "yes" when the time comes (if different to a US resident)? 

The agent demand you show them your bank statement.

Thinking of getting a mortgage of around 100k with very little down (I took a class that will allow the bank to give me a loan with only 3% down payment) then investing most of my 15k into reno. 

The bank won't let us move it into an LLC without a full refinance.  

Hi everyoneI need a reference for a business bank account for my LLC.As a non-U.S. citizen (South African/Netherlands), I am the sole member of a GA LLC, which owns a property in Atlanta.I am looking to open a bank account for the LLC (for rentals and expenses), and I was wondering whether anyone could give me a recommendation in this regard?