How are you navigating these challenges and opportunities?

This is just my opinion because in over 18+ years in banking I have had thousands of customers who started off doing fix and flips change gears and then buy and hold. 

What are some of the tips and pointers you can provide on how to navigate these challenges?

I've been navigating it a couple of ways... 1) Getting deals for SO CHEAP and in conditions that there's NO WAY I can lose. 

We were to receive an interest rate on par with their “best” customer rate, and 20 year fixed rate financing!   

IMO, Section 8 is a solid option here as they have closed the waiting list for a voucher, but you have to have a PM that knows how to navigate it.

Very poor customer service.

That leaves off market, auction and wholesalers, also very difficult to navigate from afar.Buying and holding is a better strategy with that amount of Capital and has more margin for error.  

I've been watching a lot of videos, listening to podcasts, and reading books to educate us on real estate investing.We are in the process of seeking an agent as well as mentorship from seasoned professionals to navigate the complexities of the market today.

These include falsely claiming to have closed dozens of deals when none were ever closed, illegal payment of undisclosed sales commissions to bundlers and independent contractors, advertising the funds as safe and appropriate to investors with obvious near-term needs for their capital, creating fund of funds en masse assembly line fashion with no corresponding SEC filings, unregistered brokers/financial advisors acting in that capacity absent licensure, having customers wire money claim the fund is fully subscribed and putting them into a high yield promissory note, accepting funds from unaccredited investors, misrepresentations about the debt put on the project, lies about experience level of the principals, omissions of material facts, and at least two straight up Ponzi schemes.While it's true that some legitimate operators are having issues in their portfolios, today's circumstances are a perfect example of the idiom, "you can only discover who is swimming naked when the tide goes out."