If your firend wants to stay in the place AND has the funds/income to do so, they need to refinance in their name ASAP (as part of the process), not 5 yeas from now, not if they remarry, not 10years from now.   

You don't need to know everything to get started; you need a foundation to build on, and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months.

@Steven Catudalthe 'no cash flow on a BRRRR' is typically just because you are boosting the ARV and then taking out the maximum amount you can on the refinance, often using a DSCR loan with a higher rate. 

We were also considering a cash-out refinance since we have a decent amount of equity.

I used a heloc to purchase the first 4 rentals, so $155k of dept is wrapped up In  that until I refinance each property which have already appreciated extremely quickly given the current market. 

For this reason, it would be prudent to not overleverage yourself in this type of environment in order to wait and see where rates do end up falling, as there is consensus in the market we are moving into a falling rate environment, the exact timing of when rates will be falling is unknown and different scenario analysis should be added to underwriting refinance periods to be sure the project is sustainable if inflation resurges and a refinance is delayed.

I'm looking in miami florida for sites where we could get the numbers to work and we are getting close maybe in homestead. with that you could continue to pull cash out after it was built. in our market we need about .1 acres and we get land under 60k that the investors buy. the build cost is about 75% of appraised value or a little less. the investor refinances out on a DSCR loan and continues on. this strategy is ground up and it takes advantage of the buyers market for land in our market.

Refinance with Rate Buy-Down:Pay 2 points ($8,640) to lower the mortgage rate to 6.625%.

refinance our own home with some money down + purchase another flip? 

Your best option would be to refinance your loan (if any) and get a construction loan for the improvements.