Depreciation (for tax purposes)The key to the entire business is buying right.

I thought about joining Direct Buy for this purpose but didn't end up doing it.

If there are any cards with less than ideal terms and conditions and that have a lower  availability then what is reasonably useful for your purposes, you may consider closing the accounts of those which are the youngest to at least boost your average age of credit by a little bit.

The purpose of the budget is to limit your winnings to the amount of money you have to spend. 

The purpose of this zone is to provide an adequate variation of retail establishments and services that conveniently serve the needs of residents in the immediate neighborhood.

Hard money loans are generally short term, 6 to 12 months, and for investment purposes.

You can always open/start a 1031 Exchange and then let it fail on purpose if you do not find anything that makes sense and that is suitable for you.

We don't expect to do any of these deals soon, I'm looking to see how this investment structure works in a perfect world, and scale it down from there for our purposes. 

She stated in her email that she's willing to sell on terms for "tax purposes."  

In addition, you would really need to search for a lender that would be willing to lend in this scenario, but there maybe some lenders that will, including some hard money lenders.You didn't provide your purpose for the acquisition, long term investment, value add improvement to flip or refinance later.As in real estate acquisitions and ownership, details matter too in being able to providing useful guidance.