Do you own a personal residence yet?

A realtor doing high volume, you don't have to use one you can poll 3-5 agents see what they do to get you the comps and then pick that person to help you.

I personally learned I enjoy local investing in residential properties.

This is my first personal mortgage so I'm trying to learn the game.

For example is a personal loan from a bank is 7.5 % that you could use as a down payment (after its seasoned), and your 401k loan is 4.5% but the 401k is expected to return 7.5% per year the money you save on one end you miss out on the other end basically and if your 401k returns are 20%, then you lose out significantly. 2.

I know Walter personally.. he knows a lot about real estate from many angels..

While personal circumstances can vary, it will be a unique situation indeed if $10K in debt should force you to declare bankruptcy. 

Most want experience, coupled with personal/business credit.

best of luck. make sure you are speaking to a knowledgeable person in your area as you might be getting false information

If you see work crews reaching out, ask the person in charge of securing housing where they go looking.