I've been having trouble finding deals.

That is what you need on these deals, rehabbers want the easiest closing in the fastest time! 

Use stuff like this and you'll have good markets and deals in no time. 

Some lenders also count your retirement account as reserves.Seems like you’re on the right track, keep looking in your buy box so you know what a great deal is when you’re ready to buy.Wish you the best.

As far as tapping into the equity without doing a refinance, we offer some great HELOC products which are especially good for funding short term deals like ground up constructions or fix and flips.  

How should I go about trying to find deals out of state?

@Frank JakubiecIf you can make the numbers work hard money is a great tool if you are flipping properties or doing a BRRRR deal

This is why people don't like renting to friends/family because its human nature to mix emotion into the decision making and that makes dealing with managing the investment messy when things go sideways.

Since you are doing shorter term deals it appears, you may want to get creative with the accounting and structure to maximize profits.

It's not uncommon to hear horror stories about getting into underwriting and losing your deal a week before closing because of incompetence or error.