They can provide guidance on potential legal options and rights concerning the city’s demands and the lender.Negotiate with the City:Seek Extensions or Variances: Your friend can request an extension on the deadline to comply or apply for variances that might allow the property to meet less stringent requirements.Explore Grants or Subsidies: Check if there are any local, state, or federal grants or subsidies available for renovating older properties, especially those providing low-income housing.Engage with the Lender:Discuss Financial Hardship: Present the case to the lender, explaining the situation and the financial hardship imposed by the new building codes.Propose a Loan Modification: Suggest modifying the loan terms, such as extending the loan period, reducing interest rates, or even deferring payments temporarily.Negotiate a Short Sale: If the property must be demolished and rebuilt, your friend can discuss the possibility of a short sale where the lender agrees to accept less than the owed amount to avoid foreclosure.Explore Refinance or New Loans:Seek New Financing Options: Look for other financial institutions or private lenders willing to provide financing for renovation or rebuilding.

I'm not excited on doing a month to month because I'd like to get all my tenants locked in (my strategy is a rent by room for multiple rooms in a SFH) so I can get my leases set up to my lender for the next property. 

You can also use previous experience in other STRs to satisfy the 12 month requirement by most lenders. 

You might talk with a real estate/estate attorney and see if it's possible to open a probate, have a Personal Representative appointed and obtain an order from the court authorizing the sale of the property by the PR with the proceeds being deposited into the registry of the court for later distribution when all the heirs are identified. 

Would you buy many SFH's or would you by a few 2-4 unit MFH's or would you go for the big one and use all $500k as a down payment towards the biggest MFH you could find that you qualified for? 

We're both on board with the idea now - my question is around how to make the purchase and structure the agreement...we both want to go in 50/50 towards a conventional loan and then have it managed by a property manager. 

If you are being represented by a realtor consult with them what the typical earnest monies are for an offer.

Begin by setting up online tools for rent collection, maintenance requests, and communication with tenants.

Adjust the mortgage numbers for yourself and also check the PM fee which you can eliminate by self manage.

You need to have 20% or better for down payment and then as mentioned, your LTV will also be constrained by your debt service numbers.