Purchase of 112k equals pretax of 10k gross gain.

For the $450 prop that would mean:$100k cash from the current prop + $100k new loan (replacing debt) + plus $250K out of pocket                   ORPay off the $100k loan,  use $100k cash from current prop + $350k out of pocket.Use your remaining cash (my math says $100-200k) as down payments on other cash flow properties (if your goals is to grow your portfolio quickly and let tenants pay off your loans, my strategy), or hang onto it until you have enough to buy another in cash (if you're more focused on maximizing per-unit income and minimizing risk, and don't' mind having capital tied up).If you keep using the 1031 process literally until you die (and remember you can leapfrog from one to several, from small to bigger, SFR to MFR etc), then you completely avoid all taxation and pass your properties on to your heirs with a stepped-up tax basis equal to their fair market value at the time of your death.

A title doesn't equal competance.

These same people drive nice cars with equally nice car payments.

Not all townships are equal down here.

If for sure you're looking into rehab, I would reach out to some rehab lenders and get a feel for their requirements. or to make your life a HELL of a lot easier, find a Broker who specializes in such loan-types. not all rehab lenders are created equal, and some will be better or worse depending on your specific needs.

At the same time, in my experience, not all note funds are created equal and you have to be careful if you are using a self-directed IRA to avoid being hit with penalties from UBIT/UDFI etc.

But then I've seen some pretty good duplexes lately and I started wondering if all things being equal (price, revenue, expenses) is there any downside to owning 2 duplexes over 1 fourplex?

I'm still yet to buy enough homes in Cleveland to equal that and I have 8 properties here in the US.So that's something to consider also.

Reduce the purchase price and seller credits to the break even point of where seller credits equals 2% of purchase price.