The investors all are going to turn it into something else - low income housing , student dorms, self storage, transient housing, drug treatment, etc.  

This happen to anyone else?

I've used Furnished Finder exclusively for one year now, and haven't found the need to use anything else (yet!)

So you're not really comparing apples to apples here.Also, most likely the syndication/crowdfunding deal you are comparing to is a completely different real-estate asset class than single family (i.e. probably multi-family,office, self storage,mobile home parks or something else).

I've had problems when someone else claimed the property kicking me out of the account. 

Then, before buying anything else, make a list of all the learnings you got from this experience, and then list the systems and policies you'll put in place to ensure you never do this again!

Is there anyone else out there who has dealt with this and is successful?

Lawyer up--anything else is wasting time

How can you get into a growth mindset if your finances are a mess?

Unfortunately WF no longer does those HELOCs and I don't know anyone else who will do them for rental properties.