I'll also be looking to grab my first property at the beginning of next year so if you ever want to compare notes or kick ideas around, feel free to send me a PM.  

You'll want to get an idea what comparable properties are selling for/renting for/etc.

I had a local credit union offer me something similar but I passed for a traditional with a 5% DP instead.

Let's rephrase something, she didn't "lose" her last month's rent, she is already BEHIND one month compared to all your other tenants.  

Traditional bank loan, 15% down How did you add value to the deal?

Since I have a full time job I will start with traditional mortgages and use savings from my job as well as cashflow from the rentals to finance future properties with traditional or hard money lenders as my portfolio grows.I'm extremely excited to see where this journey takes me, I look forward to connecting with you all here on the forums and learning as much as I can before jumping in head first!

You'll want to get an idea what comparable properties are selling for/renting for/etc.

Once you live in it, it's still updated, but not at all compared to a flip.

Has some money saved up, but maybe not quite enough to get a traditional mortgage.2.

Local lender used, traditional financing who keeps 100% of mortgages in house.