I usually try to work things out with people, saves a lot of attorney fees and makes for a better life.

6 people aren't enough people to be worth saving?

I am a private lender out of Pittsburgh.  

Aim for a 620+ credit score, save for a down payment, and research markets with strong rental demand.

People selling courses often use newbies as ants so they save time in the case that the ant finds one deal out of 10,000 the course creator can partner with them on.

You could ask that they put a year or so of savings into a separate account on which you have view access or receive a monthly statement so you can see they have the ability to pay future rent.They aren't going to last without other income or savings with income at 1.25x rent.

He already has a down payment saved up just needs a little bit of help getting the first deal to the finish line.

A cooperative house hack between you all would be a solid first one, but you need more savings.

Investor side:  Pitch it to your private investor as 12% interests on a 5-year private loan from your investor to secure the $30k.

If you're looking to make short term use of the equity and have a private lender/investor who's willing to think outside of the box, you might be able to create a custom repo agreement.