New to real estate investment

[Emily Hime]

Hey everyone

I am a Canadian looking at investing into a vacation home/ Airbnb rental property in South Carolina. 

I am a full time firefighter with an income of $85,000 (CAN) and my spouse earns $87,000 annually.  I am recently off of maternity leave and don’t have money saved up (but working on it).  We both have credit card debt.  We currently own a home and should have about $200,000 equity (that’s being conservative- it’s closer to $300,000).  

I am looking for advice for financing for the purchase of our first property.  I’ve heard a lot of mention of private lenders being the best route but I am not sure where to start with that.  

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.  Would love to find a real estate mentor!