Get out of your comfort zone.

I personally like Kissimmee because it can be very lucrative but it can be a difficult market - you'd have to knock the design and amenities out of the park, because if you don't, there are thousands of rentals that do and you'll fall to the wayside.

But you may be more comfortable with earthquakes, or tornados than hurricanes. 

After renting out the finished basement and one of the main units, we'd be paying a very comfortable amount for our part of the mortgage, and upon moveout we'd be breaking even with PITI + maintenance, capex, vacancy which is what we wanted to achieve.

Cool , good though to brain storm here as you get fabulous advice.. but next time see if you can JV locally and then will feel more comfortable

There is NO getting around the fact that you own the property/business other then a TRUE no-recourse loan (which will not be an option for small mom and pop investors) and no if the loan is on your credit report has no effect either as credit report is NOT the only source.The premise of DSCR loans is for borrowers who cannot qualify for full doc loans for one reason or another, but it seems the real premise of DSCR loans is because of the commercial purpose designation is that a lot of states do not require licensing of any type to sell these products.

Get out of your comfort zone.

I have bought plenty of bad deals: I overpaid, rehab ran 30k over budget, appraisal comes back low, contractors from hell, you name it - but real estate has that thing, a few years later it does not even matter anymore, even if you overpaid for the property.Get comfortable not knowing everything before you start.

All the comforts of home, and not that expensive...

People will give you money only if they trust you and are comfortable with you.As far as getting in front of people - start with those you already know and just be networking all the time, telling everyone what you do and the opportunities you have.