They ended up with medical complications causing them to move out in less than a month.  

. :)when (if) i hit 20, the new number will be 30. but i have to tell you, it's getting difficult to attend to them and remember the addresses. having a full time job complicates things a bit.

Yup, but lenders want to put their money in the hands of guys who have a proven track record of success, not guys who are buying their first deal.  100+ units are much more complicated than just being able to do the basic analysis -- the real world issues that you'll face (management, local politics, local economic changes, cash flow forecasting, etc) aren't things you can read about...you have to experience it to understand it.Also, it's very uncommon for lenders to put up more than 80% of the money -- they know that if the deal is good, you should be able to find the other 20%+ pretty easily, which will reduce their exposure.

There are rules, of course, with the solo 401k, but honestly, they don't seem that complicated or restrictive to me (basically, the biggest deal seems to be not buying anything that directly benefits YOU...ie: if you buy a vacation rental, the proceeds go back to the 401k, and YOU can not vacation there...stuff like that).I found the company to create my solo 401k here on BP as well...in case you wanted to do a search, ahem.PS- try not to fret too much about the car(s).  

Any complications if I split the loan by having Friend #1 loan only $70k, and Friend #2 loan the remaining $30k?

The flood zone designations are very complicated and reading through them will make your head spin.

@Jason Carter I do a lot of construction lending, as its complicated and most lenders don't want to mess with it :-)The simplest way to do this is to get the land free and clear.  

I met a whole group of people and it was twice as exhilarating to meet so many people.I also realized I had been over complicating things and that getting started was going to be significantly easier than I had expected from having read too much.While there someone mentioned a strategy I hadn't seen before - Giving multiple offers to the same seller.

Conforming bedroom in a basement -1) Proper ceiling height- varies around the country, usually between 6'-10" to more common 7', and this can get complicated if there are any soffited areas of the bedroom ceiling2) Closet- even a minimum size on this, usually 22" deep3) Proper electrical, proper heating requirements - must have a light and a switch located at the entrance, must be able to be heated4) Minimum square footage size of the room, usually 70 sq feet5) Egress - varies wildly in cost due to conditions, half below ground basement, fully below ground, walk out, set backs etc...Like Bill said - consult the local building dept, the codes for egress window wells are super strict, very detailed and can be confusing, they can get very picky, right down to if it needs a ladder the distance the ladder can stick out from the window well wall and then the clearance in front of the ladder to the window.Be very careful talking to anyone about egress windows with wells, this is one of the most screwed up things we continually hear about, and very expensive to fix if done incorrectly

You essentially have bad credit, title complications and a past short sale.