You may be able to get a cheaper loan, or one with a lower down payment. 

In terms of investing with low money down, you have to start networking to find other investors that would be willing to put money in with you to cover the down-payment and closing costs.

Industry folks can get their hands on discounted loans fairly easily, so your other option is to sell to a passive investor or someone unfamiliar with the industry.You mentioned before that the loan has a pre-payment penalty on it, but it isn't over the life of the loan.

As for up front payments, I wouldn't do that.

I don't have sufficient funds for a down payment to purchase and also rehab.

A few years ago I helped my (retired) parents buy their most recent house by directly giving them a $100k cash down payment, and they would like to leave the house to me when they pass in thanks for the assistance (it ended up helping keep their mortgage extremely low since they are on a fixed income).They are very worried that it will somehow get caught up in probate or red tape when they pass even if my name is spelled out in the will, and wanted to see about just adding me to the title or something so that there is a seamless transition without any hassle.

Making sure you have the down payment and closing costs  before you go to a hard money lender.

The purchase is usually (but doesn't have to be) funded by a combination of a down payment from you and a bank loan made to the EAT but secured by you. 

To qualify for a conventional loan, the down payment for a SFH or duplex is a minimum 25%-35%, because 20% is only for folks who intend to live in the home.2.

He also couldn't rent it for enough to cover his payments.So he had 1 month before the bank would start foreclosure proceedings and he was desperately trying to just break even, that's all he could hope for.When I offered to take over his payments, what do you think he said?