unfortunately, I think you are right - it's a difficult market for investors, period. 

When do you think it was more difficult to find a "deal" on real estate, in 2011 or 2019?

If you manage to get this off the ground and do some verified - meaning paperwork is in your name, or company's name, etc - projects that turn a profit, and you build some capital in a bank, you should be able to go right to that lender after a year or two and start a relationship no problem.  

Home price appreciation is still trending up, but cashflowing rentals are difficult to find for the most part.

Having a difficult time understanding the in's and out's of SELLING a property to a son/daughter. 

I will let you know, it is rather difficult to make rentals work in the DFW area.

The town of Speedway itself is difficult because of the price points, but it has a really good ROI. 

Lower Start-Up CostsTraditional real estate investing requires 20%-25% down, making it difficult for many to scale quickly.

Paperwork isn't that difficult.

We're currently living in Idaho so attendance will be difficult in the near future but we'll have to plan a trip to Sac or make sure to attend a meeting when we move!