If you are buying in a LLC there is typically a loan agreement and personal guarantee that is common

Personally I would not go above 70% and when your done building mode drop down to roughly 50%.

What resonates with one person may be different than another.

It is what I personally do and I help clients do.

I don't know, that's a personal preference.

Are there local hard money lenders that will actually talk to you or is it pretty hard to get a real person on the phone?

He might be a good person to connect with. 

There's some connection you have to this person with money who is looking to invest it short term and collect an x% return. 

You likely will max out before 10 though as the average person with average income will have difficulty qualifying after a few loans because of things like the DTI (debt to income ratios).

In most states they must be published in a local paper which all are online.