Most hard money lenders are going to require 10 -20% down payment and then require you fund bring 10 - 20% of the rehab budget depending on your experience flipping (in your name/LLC you own), property ARV, etc.

For design, it really depends on your preference? 

Now if you want to buy and live there forever or you want a specific location or lifestyle or the amenities, might be something to consider, but not for investment....they're for living.Your best option right now depending on your income, is probably to buy at least 4bed house or 5 bedroom if you can make it work financially and rent bedrooms. 

Like most things in real estate, a lot depends on the circumstances of the individuals involved and not just the numbers and figures.I hope this helps explain my thoughts, and I apologize for the lack of clarity when I defined "arbitrage".

I am not saying that to brag, the reason I say it is we all wish we could get into real estate at a younger age - but we are all different and depending on your level of risk, sometimes being patient is not a bad thing as its a marathon not a sprint.  

.- Our current preferred return is 12% a year, for a 3 year term (keep in mind these funds along with the notes that they purchase exist within a marketplace so returns fluctuate depending on the offering). - ACH payments are received by investors on the 1st of every month, so participation in our fund is a purely passive investment vehicle that's open to accredited investors only (and like Patrick said above, accredited or not, anyone can purchase a note).As an added bonus, investors in our fund can redeem shares to purchase notes upon availability. 

It all depends on if you want more cash flow now or to have no mortgage sooner.

Quote from @Gregory Wilson: This depends on what level of control you can exercise over the W-2 employer.

@Chris RagerFor multi-member LLCs (and depending on the size of the project), you may want to work with a specialist for the operating agreement.

This is really a better question for your accountant first because it depends on what you are trying to offset.