I was recently laid off and have accumulated about $20,000 in credit card debt, primarily from paying last year's property taxes and covering a few months of living expenses.

Got proper permits, re-did all the work, and and was still able to sell the property for a profit. 

Our bank offers Deposit only cards cards (looks like an ATM card) that we give to each tenant with their name on it.

Outside of real estate, I enjoy spending time with my wife and kids, as well as playing golf, collecting comics and sports cards, and binging the next show on Netflix.I am very excited to meet people with common interests, network, learn, and help where I can.

Attending these events are REALLY important (I can find my first mentor, network, collect business cards, etc), but I'm held back by my situation. - What is the optimal way to fund my first deal?

I want to keep the tenant happy and the property properly maintained.

Proper screening could have prevented this.

So, proper screening is EXTREMELY important!

Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊

Not just in the setup, initially, but separate bank accounts and properly signing all documents as a member of the LLC, even if you post on your personal social media accounts about a property owned by the LLC, if someone sues you, they will try to use all of that to get to you personally.