If there is enough money to be made perhaps you can structure a win-win and cash out a higher gain when all is said and done while minimizing your risk by working with someone experienced in a development.

After 1 month he went dark on me and didn't answer phone calls or emails.

Even with that stated our vacany is extremely low and the best item is that the tenants tend to stay for years.Not uncommon to see limited income and low debt so the screening can be a bit different.Overall the 55 plus market has offered good returns with low turnover, minimal repairs, and great stability.

Typically HELOCs have minimal/no closing costs, the bank even covered the appraisal fee on mine. 

Often it won't even tell you unit mix (without which you can't do market research) but as a first pass you only really need the gross income (minimally).

I am planning to be conservative for the 1031 exchange, which means to satisfy the minimal requirements for the change, not to spend my down payment to the house in the new investment.

Like others have said here, at the end of the day, the LLC is to protect your assets and minimize liability (if someone comes after you for any reason, they're really coming after the business entity and you won't lose your 100 grand sitting in the bank and your own house).

I can’t have it both ways i.e – minimize my income for tax purposes, but present higher numbers for borrowing purposes.

This is a real concern that ordinary people--BP's target audience--have that experienced investors with a healthy diversified portfolio and significant reserves may not need to worry about as much.I don't think that using operational cashflow as the core metric on BP is an error or a misunderstanding, I think it is a conscious choice due to it being a simple and safe metric that minimizes the likelihood of newbie investors experiencing overwhelm or major loss early in their investment careers and going back to "watching dancing with the stars". 

One more idea:  properties in the 2 to 4 unit range may qualify for FHA loans, which would allow you to put a very minimal down payment.