And, there are private lenders in the Raleigh market who would cross collateralize (taking a lien against one of your free and clear properties)....more expensive than a HELOC, though.

And, here...is my question...I have been analyzing a bunch of SOLD multi-families using the actual sales price and I cannot for the life of me figure out how anyone is making money!?

What are the tax implications for the seller of a seller financed property in which the seller purchased, remodeled and sold it on terms?

I sold 2 of them using owner financing to another investor and made $6k.

Any new building, remodel or otherwise must be guaranteed for structural ingrity and insured for up to ten years after the house is sold.

Anything falling within that description would be self-dealing and result in severe tax penalties for the IRA.A self-directed IRA allows the IRA to diversify beyond the stock market into assets such as real estate and private lending, but everything is done through the IRA and exclusively for the benefit of the IRA. 

Also, I'm not interested in note investing or private lending or anything like that.

A new huge hospital was built just blocks away, new developments with commercial buildings and gas stations around the corner, other multifamily properties have sold 500K+), duplexes have sold 300K+, and also just a few streets over there have been some higher end condos built and sold.

Looking for some clarification.  My lender (bank) transferred one of my mortgages to another bank with instructions regarding where to send future payments. It was a simple letter with no additional details aside from...

Conventional lenders won't / can't lend if there is a seller carried component to a transaction...you'd have to look to private money...or avoid the bank altogether...