On a 400k house here I’d need to bring in at least $3300/month to break even with a 7.5% interest rate on a 30 year mortgage.  

Hi Austin, you can refinance using any of the noted types of mortgage qualification types assuming income is sufficient.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Also get a good mortgage lender.

Keep in mind that if you buy a rental property in your name using a conventional mortgage it will directly affect your debt to income (DTI).

My question to you... when does it make sense to become a private lender?

(Max vacated rents - your monthly mortgage payment) = +/- net cashflow.On the other hand, you could also look into multifamily units where you can live one of the unit and rent out the other vacant units with as little as 5% down payment.

Might you consider bifurcating this forum into distinct forums, one for Tax Liens and the other for Mortgage Notes? 

My mortgage is $4500 but going rent for the area is $4,095 and not in need of loss of profit for tax purposes and needing more equity to make the investment worth it. 

I could definitely see this being an obstacle for lenders and investors.Good luck!