You may be able to secure higher leverage financing through alternative lenders than a traditional bank (not always the case) and this may help advance your objective of reducing the down payment/cash requirement but that may only be temporary relief as you will likely pay more over the course of the loan because of higher rates and fees.

San Diego and the surrounding areas are VERY ADU friendly so there are properties with options to add one in the back that are really starting to pop there and could be an alternative option.Take it slow.

I also noticed you have two emails on file with us, and you sent this from your alternative email, which may have caused some confusion.2.

Portfolio loans, asset-based lenders, and home equity lines of credit are all alternatives to traditional borrowing.

Agree with @Ian Ippolito 100% based on my experience in fund formation and product development in private alternatives. 

So the question for her to decide is do I want to continue investing my retirement in wall street or do I want to move some/all the funds into alternative assets like real estate that can far out perform the stock market.   

But I was lead to this program as an alternative through a G.R.

I got recertified in the military on my weapon every 6 months and without regular practice and in a controlled environment I still had difficulty with the target.It gives many (not all) people a false sense of security, like they're going to pull out their weapon and go Steven Segal on the situation, when the most appropriate response most of the time is to exit the situation (run/hide/etc).There are reasonable alternatives to carrying a firearm that are at least worth considering for your particular situation. 

If it's suburban, then the community room would be a good alternative to making it an amenity that brings in some cash to offset its expenses.  

If you have properties in low crime areas with higher incomes, Section 8 becomes a way more risky alternative for you.