I wanted to go with gifted funds but they would need to be "seasoned".

Since you're putting only $35k down it sounds like you'd need someone to come and fund the whole deal.

My mom wants to partner with me and buy property together since she has perfect credit and a better chance at being taken seriously by the banks that will give us a mortgage. we are going to go 50/50 on the down payment and all expenses/maintenance. we will be getting an fha loan and putting 3.5% down which will allow us to have a big emergency fund.

There will be closing costs and a funding fee that you can wrap into the VA loan if you wish.

For me, I look for an ROI of at least 10-15% annually on my tied up funds before even considering a deal. 

If so, will you please share who you worked with and what LTV they were able to lend up to?

Unless I can get private business insurance that excludes the extra $250/year mandated by FEMA/NFIP, then I'll probably just pool funds from all the rentals into one for disaster relief savings.  

I learned about cash out refinancing where you need to increase the property value due to the 70-90% LTV.

I'd tell them to invest it for themselves in an index fund if there wasn't any appealing buy and hold properties you had your eye on.I would not force buying a property just because the money is available.

Overall, there are several ways to get involved, money is abundant so if you try your hardest and it's a deal, it will be funded.