I’d love to hear from others who have successfully raised funds for similar ventures and any advice on structuring such a deal.

I have absolutely no funds myself.

Even the funding alone is easier since you now have a cash flowing property that can help you fund your seed money faster. 

funds only go into interpleader after months of sitting in escrow. the court just does not hand the money to the seller either.. if not agreed upon the funds go to the state etc.

If you want to play a passive role, a real estate syndication or debt fund could be a great way to go.

We are actively managing two fund offerings, one focusing on real property (REO and off market properties), the other focusing on Pre-REO (vacant first mortgages).

Quote from @Jaikevis Reams: In order to put a property under contract I need to provide proof of funds I know that I can get that from a hard money lender but I don’t meet there criteria for a loan approval what should I do? 

First when I wanted to create a fund to buy court house steps..

Typically seasoning means that the funds have been in a bank account for a set amount of time (usually 60 days), so ANY lender should love that....I thought maybe you meant un-seasoned funds?

From 9/9 to 9/18, I struggled to get to funding with them.