I've picked up from a few others on the forums the banks rely on the fed rate for their construction rate financing, and this seems to be where the rate currently exists. 

Using credit cards to advance renovation, particularly longer lead time purchsases is fine but as a general rule of thumb if you don't have the cash in your bank account or an already originated real estate loan with drawable funds to pay that card own, you shouldn't rely on credit cards in your real estate business.

Some people I know will rely heavily on Facebook ads, while others rely on mainly mailers.

Invest where you have the most market knowledge or where you can rely on quality team members to inform you properly.3.)

Having no contacts in the area, I relied on my agent, who is investor friendly, he gave me a couple of contacts that he trusted.  

We don't have to rely on a PM who seems to be okay with the property being in distress.

The key is training them to do what you want, how you want, but if you are spread out like that, those tasks are going to be very hard to find and rely on.

Outside of that my mind went to a ground lease option if you could find an end user looking for that kind of deal, or potentially a build to suit for a brewery/pub type location that has a "draw" to it and does not rely so much on being near an anchored center.  

I am all for real estate investing and preparing our future so we can be financially stable from real estate and not have to rely on our W2 income to survive.I have been investing for four years now and have a few properties under my belt.

That said, through conversations with brokers in the area (and evidenced in the comps I’ve created) I’ve learned that this strategy may be slightly outdated as most properties are currently at market rents given the current rental environment, expenses aren’t a realistic lever to rely on to add value, and there is a real risk I get priced out of the market by buyers with cash, 1031 exchanges, and with longer term hold strategies willing to pay an extra $10-20k per key.