On the other hand, i would like to live more comfortably and let my income reflect that in my life choices (and not have fear about losing my job and not being able to pay my debts.

Way out of my comfort zone.....

Now that I am getting more comfortable with the basics of this, I may park my money in a fund, but rest assured that I will give up the return profile and liquidity rights before I give up on the fundamentals of being first position in all notes, my preference for an unlevered, or lightly levered, fund, and requirement for conservative underwriting in concentrated Geographies. 

Having said this I want to emphasise that we never felt pressured into committing our money earlier, or above a limit that we felt comfortable with.

The reason why we are comfortable with this is that we have both established and co-managed a homebuilding non-profit together.

The pictures don't work properly so it's hard for the tenant to even figure out what their room would look like.Also, be comfortable spending WAY more on construction costs, etc. than you would if you were rehabbing it yourself.

Reading some of the posts it seems I’ve stumbled into an arena of folks far more comfortable with large amounts of debt. 

I find it comforting to live with someone that was referred by a friend or family member, rather than someone you find off Facebook marketplace or Zillow.

It should also make potential LP's more comfortable knowing you have considerable skin in the game plus the fact you are profiting from the merits of the actual deal at time of sale rather than collecting fees.

I lend as a 2nd lien holder (in Florida mainly) because the returns are huge but I am comfortable with high risk as well.