I've been self-employed for only 6 months, and loans are proving difficult to come by despite my great credit (not to brag, I'm moreso frustrated and seeking help).

This is the fork where I'm not sure if I'd be good to get some CRE exp and invest in learning about how to review deals for the next 2-3 years, or focus on generating revenue for investment purposes and watch how things are done as a LP.My personality more aligns with networking, reaching out to people, connecting, navigating difficult situations and finding solutions that work.

To me, QB felt like overkill and I found it difficult to use since I don't have an accounting or bookkeeping background.

Here's the problem: They are not a sustainable asset for most to own; they are difficult and costly assets to exit through a sale; if you achieve favorable refinances, you may be able to use those funds to buy other (hopefully better assets) but are now faced with operating highly leveraged bad assets. 

Is it worth bringing in my contractor first to see how difficult it would be or should I call the gas and water companies first?

They have had a difficult year and are struggling to make their payments on time each month.

Finding a good account and bookkeeper wasn't difficult and using online registered agents was way more cost effective.

Credit (loans) become much more difficult to obtain and if available you pay a MUCH higher interest rate with a much higher down payment requirement2.

Hi Treza,Not sure where you are in the process there, but when your ready to exercise financing options please reach out, it's very difficult to find a ground up program for inexperienced borrowers without having an experienced GC sign on the loan with you which in turn is not easy to find. 

Sonya, this is going to be insanely difficult.