Do you have other collateral, such as another income property or your personal residence (last resort) your seller could record their lien against? 

Explore my personal favorites, Set For Life by Scott Trench or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, for invaluable financial insights.3.

You must have your personal finances in order before you invest.

PreREO I believe was run by the same person who owns AHP (American Home Preservation) - which has a lot of chatter on BP that you can search. 

Do you own a personal residence yet?

This is the foundation of why LaPlante Real Estate is based in portfolio management and property management... my personal portfolio started in 2009 and I find the majority tends to be Section 8. 

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.

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

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.