As I see it, the only ways that real estate pays you well in the first 3-5 years is low to no leverage or a strategy that requires more work (short term rental, mid term rental, rent by the room, etc.).  

His credit score is fine but his income is showing too low to get the loan, so I though maybe I could use my HELOC to make the purchase and do a Lease to Own.

Even with buying down the rate, I would not expect to get better than low 6's in the best of scenarios.

for me, the ones that cashflow the most are the ones that I bought with 3% long term debt, they were new (low maintenance) and they are in high appreciating areas(just a bonus but does not impact cashflow).

However, at $105 per SF seems very low.

Apologies if I missed prior posts asking the same thingI want to take advantage of the low down payment requirement however need to find a lender supporting this loan type.Can you please provide any recommended lenders for Homestyle loans (or even 203k) that serve DFW? 

I've never really done a deep dive in analyzing the area because it is a retirement community, median income is very low, and there arent a lot of jobs in the area.

Consider a HELOC for value-added BRRRRs or flips if you have a low interest rate.

Meet with a local banker & schedule a time to talk with a mortgage broker, they'll give you at least a baseline of what kind of down payment options and rates are out there.After that, if you're still wanting to research more creative options, do some looking into seller financing (a very hot topic with good, and bad, advice out there), look into private lenders, and commercial financing options.If you're wanting to live in 1/4 of your quadplex, then conventional residential loans may in fact be your best option as you can purchase that with a fannie/freddy loan with very low down, and use up to 75% of the income from the property toward your own income. 

Too many low income apartment buildings near by / vacant buildings.