Clearly the note is more than just evidence of a debt, right?

While I do maintain a relatively modest percentage of my assets in money market instruments, corporate debt funds, and high dividend stocks, I remain most comfortable with the investments I specialize in and know best.  

I really like Lease to own option to get into deals without having to take on massive debt.

You divide that $20k by .075 and you get a boost of $260k to the valuation.Allowing you to take the property back to the bank, get a new loan with $208k of additional debt on the property, pay yourself back that investment and now you have enough cash to buy a $1M deal and use that strategy over and over while scaling exponentially.

I'm at the beginning of my investment career, fresh out of college and pretty heavy in debt at 7% interest.

A good DST would absorb the rest of your debt nicely.

Or paying off my debt, while I provide them with a nice house to live in instead of an apartment. 

And how much is your debt service, around $6,500? 

Waiting until you get a deal under contract to then see if you can put together the debt and equity is a recipe for disaster.

In addition to your down payment, plan for closing costs (around 2-5% of the purchase price) and set aside at least 3-6 months of expenses for repairs, maintenance, and vacancies.