Plenty of opportunities out side of over leveraging.I agree with others house hacking is a great way to start with minimal risk.

I have excellent credit, minimal bills, and have had the same renters in my current duplex since I bought it.

Zillow shows the estimated value around $370K, which I'm confident is the minimal ARV. 

@Mindy JensenCost segregation study is a tax strategy used to minimize or offset tax liability.

This eliminates the need for double closing, drama, earnest deposit confusions and minimizes your risk.If you need to be dishonest (hiding stuff) from sellers, you are structuring your business to struggle in the long run.But to answer your question... in your JV contract you need to mention that by signing the contract they release the money to you.

@Nash Paul one piece of advice, you can accelerate your learning curve and minimize huge mistakes by working with/for someone who is doing what you want to do, so be on the lookout for someone you can add value to in exchange for being close to the action.

So, yes, it could definitely work on paper and even in execution, but it would require quite a bit of setup as it's something that would definitely need to be scaled if one was going to conquer more than just their local market - and that requires lots of people & lots of money.Personally, I prefer the tried & true model of metal sheds on concrete slabs so folks can store their treasures and running all of that with zero to minimal employees - the simple approach.So I guess in summary, the romantic part of me wants to change the world, but the practical part of me just wants to change "my" world. 

Minimal risk should = minimal reward. 

If it's minimal, I say keep it up...if it's a lot of time  then maybe larger deals make sense.

Cash with quick close under both our names and then transfer after closing.Doing cash because it minimizes complexities with lending to a personal name, partnership, LLC, etc.