Beg family and friends to fund it for you.They "might" do it if they see you've learned a lot and your business plan sounds very solid.How do I know this "might" work?

Quote from @Greg Gallucci: I'm starting to look into the Huntsville market.

Everyone's favorite answer in real estate---"it depends".That being said, you have to start somewhere to figure that out.

It sounds like you are off to a great start already especially by educating yourself! 

Going direct instead of having a GC do the work will save you money too since that GC will put a percentage on top of work. 

Do you have any other roadblocks in your way?

You really need to decide on what is most important and then start looking. 

I own my current primary residence & have about 140K in equity.

Quote from @Sami Gren: I start by making the original tenant fill out a form requesting to add a new renter, and they pay me a $50 processing fee (I charge a $50 fee any time I make changes to an existing lease). 

Do you know the other markets well?