Outside of portfolio loans (great option), here are a couple other options for growth:Raise private money to purchase dealsPay down the mortgage on one property with the snowball method.

.#2 Explore Lowes and Home Depot to Learn About Material PricingTake a tour through Lowes and Home Depot (or their websites) and look at finishes materials and fixtures that you will consider using in your rehab projects.

I realized, I dont have a method for tracking my expenditures.

A better method is to be added as an authorized user on a well aged credit card account that has low usage and perfect payment history.

A better method than using percentages in my opinion would be to total up everything you think the property will need to have replaced during your hold period for example 1 roof, 2 water heaters, 2 floors, 2 furnaces etc., 1 driveway, 1 porch, 20 windows... whatever Capex you anticipate doing while you own it, and total that up then divide the number by the number of months you plan to hold and use that as your Capex allocation instead of a percentage of rent.

It won't surprise anyone to know that there is a fair amount of hyperbole out in the media these days.Fortunately, NY lawmakers have not mandated (yet) the method of payment or lease terms that landlords must accept as part of running THEIR business.So, for example, I only offer M2M leases, and the local HA requires a year lease to issue vouchers. 

I look forward to hearing about everybody’s experiences on this method of REI.

I'm curious what methods most investors in the area use to successfully source their deals.The rehab process is probably where I could use the most guidance given I have no background in the industry.

@Rush Wall, I have not used direct mail, but heard of others using that method successfully.  

Contractor turned out to be both an associate of the realtor and the repair guy for the PM.Perhaps not the preferred method of putting a team together, especially if you are risk averse, but in the end it worked out very well for me.