If I can boost our income by moonlighting, I can speed up our progress towards our next investment.

Sometimes that means higher leverage at a higher rate (if there are other opportunities right behind it that make sense to tap into), sometimes that means the lowest rate/cost, sometimes that simply means speed/ease due to urgency of the opportunity. 

You need to speed up or able to lock in the rates.

Top producer recognition?

He has already put $10k in it over time but will probably need another $10k to get it up to speed to sell at full market value, hence the $20k in Reno.  

I thought Hard Money Lending is to speed up the process so you don't miss out on the deal.  

.- no title seasoning on cash out refinances unlike FHA which has 12 months of title seasoning after purchase before you can use market value value or conventional which requires 6 months after acquisition (this applies to CO refinances where you used financing initially to purchase not DFE or delayed financing exception which is an all cash purchase and there is no lien/deed recorded on the property at the time of close), This becomes very handy for  creative RE entrepreneur once you learn how to force equity through adding value to properties you can use VA's no title seasoning advantage to increase the speed at which you move from deal to deal quicker than Conv/FHA- no self sufficiency rule when owner occupying 3-4 unit properties which FHA has (a rule that makes buying 3-4 unit FHA properties in high cost areas nearly impossible) so this a huge plus- use of rental income or other peoples income (OPI) to help you qualify on your 2-4 unit VA purchase (FHA and Conv does allow this too)There's a lot more you can do to optimize your mortgage planning from an investors perspective.With the introduction of the 2018 Tax Cuts, you can structure your taxes strategically to not only greatly reduce the tax impact but also remain bankable to most money sources.

Kinda like being a cop and writing a ticket - people immediately want to point at others speeding by or committing worse crimes - that is beside the point.

I do need to reach out to Jillian and book her for my club at some point and this might speed up the process.

We have a large number of real estate Meetup groups whereby you can get up to speed on the local area.