@Sheila Campbell Hey Sheila this is a great topic. I currently work for a private money lender and this is the primary issue for most people I speak with that prevents them from qualifying for a loan which prevents them from executing on deals... lack of capital.
In my opinion, first question to ask yourself is “What do you want?”
This guides your mind towards getting more specific about what type of deals you will begin focusing on.
Will you do short term transactions doing rehabs and fix and flips?
Will you do long term transaction building a rental portfolio?
Will you do a combination of both?
Will you only do SFR, multifamily or commercial or a combination of all three?
I’ve spoken with investors who syndicate deals... they put the deal together and sell it to a network of investors and split the profit with them. No cash out of pocket. Just need to identify and package each deal. If you can somehow raise capital in that way or another, you can gain enough capital to put a down payment on a short term loan to acquire the property and complete the rehab.
You have lots of ways of getting in the game... its just a matter of staying true to what you want and figuring out the how. Hope this helps!