I use both as a RE investor between commercial and residential as both can be used on 1-4 unit properties (non owner/investment occupancy).The pro's of commercial/portfolio financing from local credit unions and community banks are that you can:- talk to a local banker/lender who is interested in building a relationship with you over time and is flexible to make a loan as long as its financially prudent and you show a track record- ability to build a track record with- less documentation scrutiny than a fannie/freddie conventional loan which is more ridged because it needs to be sold to the secondary market so all boxes must be checked to do so (otherwise the loan is unsellable or undeliverable)- is cashflow based via debt coverage ratio or DCR method of qualification (Net operating income / debt service) - can fund to LLC's, entities, and businesses with personal guarantee (PG) usually- can do unique loans like cross collateral or blanket notes across an entire portfolio, can do rehab/construction + permanent financing into one (one time close products), can do soft liens and releasable upon progress on your projects so you can leverage equity with temporarily encumbrances, unique disbursements on credit facilities,etc Hope that helped compare the cash out options.

I can’t say I’ve perfected the brrrr method yet but I’m working on it.My question is how many deals do I have to do with my own cash or how many years do I need to be investing for private money lenders to trust me and my abilities so I can start doing apartment deals?

Typically less is more since it removes the rejected tenants ability to try and counter your decision.

I'm confident in my ability to run numbers.  

At CA prices, that’s a hefty pill to swallow and limits my scale ability.

One that can sell the loans on the secondary market, hold the loans or also has the ability to work as  broker to find you other products.

It all depends on your goals, your resources, what market you’re in and your experience level and ability to pull it off.

Unless I'm mistaken (& please correct me if I am), removing the ability for a landlord to screen problem tenants would flood the market with problem tenants, thus increasing the eviction rate.

This will make a statement, and you can vet them simply by their ability to walk you through the process.

If you want the ability to return on a whim, I'd suggest doing month to month leases for all of your tenants.