I'm buying a property that the seller is carrying the 20% down.

You can buy a property with negative cash flow, I wouldn't recommend it, but you will have a hard time carrying 2 or 3 of these.

My first duplex dealThe previous owner purchased this duplex in 2005 for $25,000 then sold it and carried the note.

Getting around this issue is not possible (as far as I know) so you must use other means - conventional buyers only, all cash buyers, local banks carrying their own paper, etc.Unless the rule changes or someone can post a real alternative to actually circumvent this BS rule, the answer remains - we can't.

Obviously, kicking out your tenant or at least having the availability to will/can increase your carrying cost and will decrease the appeal to an investor, but it greatly improves the appeal to a homeowner.

The way I structure my deals, the buyer gets the deed when they buy the house and I carry the note.

The brands they carry that I have used are simington and vinlymax.

Then, only if your AGI is low can you take it, and that's subject to the $25K limit.Keep in mind, you do carry the losses foward and can take them in total when you sell.

Soft costs (2 closings, agent commission, carrying costs etc) on a rehab are 15-20%.

i believe that if its fannie/freddie then pmi must be carried for 5 years no matter what. things may have changed though....last i heard, there weren't many PMI companies stil functioning for obvious reasons.