How Do You Come Up With Large Multifamily Down Payments?

[Adam D.]

I'm looking to move into commercial multifamily in the near future and curious about a few things. With there being several barriers to entry, coming up with a large down payment being one of them, I'm wondering how many of you have done it. I don't think I'm interested in a real estate syndicate or fractional ownership.

I have a few properties of my own (a few single family, duplexes, and small multifamily) with some decent equity between all of them, but not nearly enough to provide a 25% down payment for a 2-10 million dollar multifamily property. 

What are some methods you've used, or heard of, for coming up with large down payments on commercial multifamily properties? Can private money be used for the down payment? If so, how does borrowing a down payment effect the rest of the deal? Can deals be structured in a way where the down payment is lowered? What do you recommend? 

Any ideas would be appreciated!