At a high level, this is generally the path people take - we see a lot of people have success in this route - start building the portfolio with banks, low down payments, and then **generally** when you hit around 5 or so properties - it starts to make sense to switch over to LLCs, its too hard to qualify/deal with paperwork of banks and switch towards private lenders like DSCR Loans - (LLC friendly, easier) to scale past 5 or so.

Can you recommend any investor friendly banks in the area for mortgage and quick refi? 

Friends who are heading up this project got me interested.

I have a friend who has one in Florida where he doesn't have to do any repairs or maintenance to his unit.

Quote from @Michael Nguyen: My friend and I are starting our real estate journey together as partners.

Until now, I’ve mostly shared this journey with close friends and family, but I’ve realized it’s time to open up and document this experience for everyone.

I would then try to find an owner/user that would want to buy it at around $225/sf.

Side note I have one landlord friend who actually has his renew in the middle of winter so they can't find another place.

If your goal is personal-use real estate, cashing out the 403(b) is an option, but it will incur income tax and a 10% penalty, significantly reducing your available funds.

You can write off everything still, its actually better if flip takes more then a year as you can make it look like a long term capital gain, need a investor friendly CPA who isn't afraid to do what gets you the lowest tax payments.