Small Business Administration (SBA) offers 7(a) loans to small businesses for a variety of purposes, including purchasing owner-occupied commercial real estate, refinancing existing debt, or financing equipment.

You may want to seek out a smaller company if you don't like their business model.

Connecting with investor-friendly experts and potential business partners is a smart move, and the Northern Virginia real estate community is sure to benefit from your expertise.Best of luck investing! 

In running a business I would not take a chance on a small / unknown company. 

I got into this business working my day job, saving money for a down payment and then working from 6-11pm and weekends renovating the crappy houses I bought, so I could then rent them out.Recommend you find a way to motivate yourself and get your finances in order.

However for business development or scaling your business to the next level, these courses might offer some help.

My thoughts are to either consider it as a wholly separate business, using my (future) agent license to get to know the market, generate leads, etc.

We are/were hoping to put a $60-70k down payment on a higher-end 'A' new build property with Rent to Retirement as I really like their business model/community, rather than a smaller down payment on a refurbished property in a 'C' area.

People want to show you how great their business is going, what geniuses they are.

We've found it has superior reporting features, integration features, and is overall more efficient to work within than other REI-specific software.The downside is QBO is not set up for REI so you'll need to do that or work with an expert to ensure it is set up for your business appropriately.For tenant management, our Clients use Doorloop, Buildium, Appfolio, etc.