New investors looking for a private lender, or advice in general

[Shannon Vinson]

My friend and I are trying to get our real estate careers started, and we're finding it pretty difficult to afford the 20%-25% down payments for the properties in our area. We're interested in fix and flips to start out, and then work our way into rentals. We know that cash is king when it comes to buying power, especially in the current market. 

We've already had two potentially profitable properties snatched up before we could even go look at them. So we know that conventional financing just isn't going to work. So to me, a private lender makes the most sense in my situation. We are in the southwest Florida area; Lehigh Acres, Fort Myers, Labelle, Cape Coral etc. If anyone is interested please let me know. I would also really appreciate any advice that anyone can share for alternative methods of purchasing real estate with low money down, in my specific area. Thanks!