Usually the hardest part is coming up with the down payment.

Rene, I decided to sell at least one of the properties in the spring, to make my new housing payment out east more palatable.

One thing I am curious of - typically many of the hard money lenders will charge a 1-3 year pre-payment penalty in these types of scenarios unless your client paid points to not have that pre-payment penalty.

And use the other $50K as a down payment on a $250K property. 

You set your own payment terms with YOUR client and then find funding for them.The Capital Syndicate is a private lender firm that offers financing through their own company, but they also provide you with a list of about 150 other private lenders. 

Live in one unit - It's a great strategy when using a bank for financing as the down payment and interest rates are more favorable to owner occupants.  

Use your $30k for down payment or initial rehab but budget extra for unexpected repairs.Your lead methods (D4D, DealMachine) are strong.

If your property management company is good and has built an internal maintenance team which has set rates and had strong relationship relationships with licensed contractor which should keep costs in control, you should never need to shop contractors on your own I wouldn't think.So in short, our policy is give us your preferred contractors upfront if you have them, but then we work all tickets to resolution including dispatch, and payment of invoices.This is of course for operational expenses.  

How long have you owned these, and how much is rent vs the payment?

This friend and I have done 2–3 deals together, and there’s never been a payment dispute or even a hint of cutting him out of something.