Every no brings you closer to a yes.With a limited track record you could get a partner on a deal, wholesale a deal until you have enough money to have a bigger deposit, or like @Peter Sanchez and @Alexander Felice mentioned house hacking.Real estate is amazing because you have unlimited options and have to develop the mindset that you are a real estate transactor.Let me know if you need help with anything and I would be happy to help!

Definitely a book that has changed my mindset and future prospects in less than a year. 

I am a general contractor in the process of developing a small multifamily complex, it will be a total of four fourplexes, 16 units total.  

Hi All,I am looking to develop multi-family properties in the Phoenix, AZ area.

Your first concern was regarding discrimination.If by 'first come, first served' you mean (and say)  "first qualified tenant ready willing and able to enter into an agreement, with all required documentation and certified funds will be first", you are in the clear, and shouldn't get any arguments from a prospective tenant.Doesn't matter who calls first, who sees the unit first, who applies first. 

I have an 8 acre tract of land in the Florida panhandle that I want to develop into a small subdivision. 

then when the subdivision happens lots are divided etc. the renters can buy the house with a bank loan and we could use that cash to pay for subdivision costs. if it is possible to have a rent to own agreement before the lots are divided, what would be the best way to make sure the renters don't end up with the soon to be developed lots?

Ideally, I would like to have a contractor with me as I scout for prospective deals, but I know this is unrealistic and unprofessional (don't want to waste the contractor's time).

See in 2007 I opened a flooring and had a ton of new construction developments that I sold and installed to. 2008 hit and by 2009 all of the new construction had stopped.

I got licensed in February out here in Oregon and have been prospecting like crazy.