Getting loans for current investment property

[Yizhen Su]

I invested in a single family home 5 years ago, the house has appreciated to twice the sale price, the market was very hot and even in poor condition, it sold nearly at market so after putting in 55k of repairs into it, I was able to rent it out and make a good return up until last year when the area's market started cooling off a bit. I want to exit that property eventually with some cash in hand as it has appreciated a good deal in order to invest in a different state where the market is much better.  I don't have a steady "job", lost it in Jan and haven't found a steady one, just been able to land a "gig" that pays well but it's not steady, I have at least 5 years of documented rental income from that house and others and it's currently rented out until Aug 2021.  I don't qualify for traditional bank loans or home equity due to the high amount of government student loans (doctoral school) and I'm on the PAYE plan so there's no expectation to suddenly pay it all back at any time and it's capped at 10% of my earnings every year. Despite the lack of steady employment at this time, my credit score is still stellar.  I've found a few properties, have a very good contractor that is more reliable than the others I've worked with in previous years.  Now I need to figure out how to fund my next purchase and I'm open to ideas, I'm kinda new to the borrowing part as most of the time I've been able to fund the purchases myself with cash but as I don't want to sell the house with the tenants in it - I know them and they are happy working with me and the market may recover in that area after next year so I may make some cash flipping and pay back the loan completely or just sell the initial house, I want to still take advantage of the investment opportunities presented to me utilizing my cash investment I spent previously as leverage.  Some of my professional colleagues that have known me for years have offered to fund me but I always get weary of going the friends and family route when there's no clear lines or rules so I just wanted to know 

1) how do people fund their projects with cash tied up in properties?

2) what kind of interest rates do you guys look at for flipping or short term? 6 mo with 10%? i.e. What is fair? (I'm working in NC and in the 50k-200k range single family homes)

3) Any recommendations for lenders?

House I'm hoping to leverage with numbers:

Purchase: 3BD 2BA 122k, 120k purchase price, 2k fees

Repairs + furnishing: 55k: I hit the jackpot and "found" a pipeline for another bathroom which was added, kitchen had to be redone completely

Total cost: 177k, rented furnished to students

Ownership: 5 years; total rental income at approx 80,000 total for the 5 years

Current estimate sale price by experienced realtor in the area, she said we may get more if I make a few changes and change the office into another bedroom; 3BD 3FullBA (possibly 4BD): 240,000, after fees, commissions, minor repairs, and taxes: 204,000

Total gains with sale: 284,000-177,000 = 107,000 after 5 years while I worked a full time job and that's just one of my properties.