His book “Invest in Debt” written over 45 years ago is the standard for understanding real estate note investing. 

I have 5+ buy and hold properties,  i have limited cash right now for another down payment, my debt to income ration hits almost the limit.

BP has given us contacts, information and a network that has helped us get to where we are combined with the local REIGs. 

The power of REI in todays market is delayed gratification  combines with the tax benefits the following year. 

You still need to get the debt and equity but once you're open / finished with construction you can get grants to reimburse you. 500K-2M is typical for projects like yours.

We are currently paying down most of our bad debt to put us on a better position to buy, and gaining more knowledge in the process.

Then combine that with talking to other people in these meetups and I think you'll start to gravitate to one idea over some others and then just start figuring out what you need to do to make that happen. 

What is a C or D or a B or an A neighborhood is really in your hands, combined with some of the data you have reviewed.

She didn't pay rent the last 3 months, plus I paid all the lawyer fees. do I hire a debt collection service to follow them until I get my money back? 

For example, I am a little concerned about some aspects of the business cycle recovery and a potential for a double-dip so I lean toward the safest part of capital stack which is debt (or low-debt equity).