Tapping into that equity through a HELOC or cash-out refinance and reinvesting in higher-performing assets could improve their ROI significantly.

Here's a quick breakdown:Unforeseen Property Issues: Hidden damage, bad tenants, major repairs – these can eat into profits.Vacancy Woes: Empty units mean lost income, impacting cash flow.Market Downturns: Property values can drop, affecting your investment's performance. 

i understand a true duplex might be a lot more expensive, but i think it's at least worth continuing to research and keeping an eye on.and sticking to my original point, OOS can be tough. 

The short answer to your question is: 1) You will engage with a new Administrator/Recordkeeper who can perform what is called a "Plan Takeover."

Surplus line is what I have been looking for as I am involved with an older property that is typically found to be uninsurable by a lot of other mainstream insurance companies due to the properties age and some of its original features and surroundings, I just have a question and have done some reading on this and it's really not too clear and it sounds it can go either way really with this and I'm fairly new to all this so I am learning a lot of things as I go but should the private non traditional mortgage lender be listed as additional insured while the person occupying & buying the home and also purchasing the property from the lender be listed as mortgagee?

Look at median household incomes, look at market economy base and diversification, look at what's being done to protect and grow economic performance, just run the #'s and the message should be crystal clear. 

In response to your original question, closing agents should handle private loans just like a bank loan. 

But always remember that RE is a risky venture, and you could go through years of less than stellar performance.

As I'm new to this domain, I would to hire a consultant to perform some zoning and other due diligence activities.

Do you need license like you need to become a conventional loan broker aka originator (I happen to be one, licensed in NY and NJ).