Typically, to qualify for loans when contract or self employed, you need two years of tax returns for a typical loan.

Typically I will use a FL land trust to a FL LLC that is held by a WY LLC for anonymity. 

I have a client whose house is currently worth $500,000 who owes $150,000 on the mortgage who is interested in getting a $250,000 second mortage to use as capital to invest in real estate in Massachusetts area.

You can do this using a kind of recession proofing 1031 exchange - Sell properties that have profit and depreciation worth protecting. 

Typically for real estate deals you can only sue for actual damages, you cannot sue for emotional distress.

This job is not really worth a contractor's time.

Say I offer $100 and the appraisal says the property is worth $80, can I negotiate lower at that point? 

Not worth the fight and we're approaching high season. 

Answer: maybe, but this isn't worth doing as you won't be be building equityhope this helps

You can typically get an investment property loan for these putting down 20-25% with a duplex cost of $400-450k.