A good exercise for anyone is to call every single small bank is available, and see if they will do 80% loan to value on acquisitions.If you have a business plan that shows that you buy fix and hold, and you only want 80% of value in a reasonable interest-rate, they may accommodate you 10 20 or 30 yearsJust search for portfolio lenders that will work with you has a lot to do with two things: one is your persistence and two is how organized and professional you areGet a business plan that shows that you're for real and show every single deal you've doneThe alternative is to get private lenders that will lend you 80% loan to value in long-term

Same exercise but bigger dollars.

But, if it was me and I had the choice, I would start small as I was young and trust that I will have a sound understanding of myself as an investor to leverage later for larger returns with lower risk.For the ease of this exercise, let's say you sell your SFR for $200k (there may be better options, but for the purposes of this exercise...).

My wife likes a house we saw for 75k and i"m trying to convince her we need to exercise restraint and just gather information.

Now run the same exercise for the principal paydown and factor in some cash flow / tax benefits on the side.You cannot get returns anywhere near this in the stock market or any other alternative with such certainty and low volatility.

If you want to build a business get some capital and have a reserve like 6 months personal and 6 months business.For chunk cash, I would do lease option assignments, bank 50% of the money,  and pay down bad debt (student loans and credit cards) for the other 50%.Buy and hold investments when you are broke is hard, you need reserves.Remember to take 40% for Mr IRS.And @Bill G will say it is not your option money (that is assigned) until the deal is finished (option exercised or nullified).But I disagree.

The PM would know best in each area, you can talk with them and learn from them while also pricing out their services, I learned a lot from that exercise.  

It's a good exercise to do anyway, but as @Charlie MacPherson points out you'll need to rationalize (and defend) your numbers.

The risk with these types of deals, is that the lender can exercise the due on sale clause, which would mean the note is due in full.

Here's the story:A tenant had a 3-year lease option to purchase his residence but was unable to exercise his option due to not having good enough credit to get a mortgage.