Whether or not you're accredited or non-accredited has no bearing on your capacity to raise money.  

As far as what to do getting a second, better paying job is an option but perhaps a better use of your time would be to work as an unpaid intern in a real estate capacity.

Two questions for you 1) do you recommend working with a friend in this capacity (not anyone I am dating or have dated in the past, we're just two professionals from the same hometown ).  2) After paying him as a contractor for whatever projects he works on as part of the rehab,  what percentage of my profits should I pay him to be my project manager? 

I knew I wanted to work in real estate in some capacity and I had no idea how to get started. 

On another note I made a few calls over to ajacent towns a saw mill that had been making dimensional lumber " 2x4's 2x6's still has not recovered from the real estate bust of 8-9 years ago still at only about 50% of production capacity .

I absolutely love USAA and will always use them in some capacity.

@Lance WoolvertonWelcome to BP nation.You've come to the right place for REI education and networking.There's a tremendous amount of opportunity here if you will take the time to learn and then put that knowledge to good use.The biggest asset you have going for you is your age and willingness to start now.Take advantage of that situation by learning what values are in your market and being able to confidently identify a good deals.You should know your market backwards and forwards before risking your money.You should explore if you are cut out to be a landlord.It's not for everyone.You need a certain personality to be successful at that strategy.As far as utilizing your home equity to assist in doing deals.You may have about $40K in equity if I understood your situation correctly.That's a start but you need to have other debt paid down and cash reserves for rentals.Bankers like to see your capacity and ability to pay down debt to extend credit.In short educate yourself and gauge your spouses willingness to support and possibly assist you in this endeavor.It's a lot easier if the spouse is on board.I'm in Owensboro,if you want to meet up sometime let me know.Ohio Valley Real Estate Investors meetup is in Newburgh IN the second Tuesday of the month at Turoni's Pizza, if interested.Good luck

I'd get new energy efficient ones that are also large capacity.

First, as a proud veteran, and citizen of these United States, let me first impress upon you the incredible capacity of the Federal Government to lose track of things.

Your idea is good however, buying for pure cash flow limits the future buying capacity!!