If you are still cash-flowing even after a bunch of headaches and repairs from the jump, I would argue that its still way too early to give up, that is still a very strong result. 

One option that might work for you is to partner with others who are willing to provide the down payment capital in exchange for equity in the property if you are willing to do the leg work for it.

However, EVERYONE's strategy is different and my career started with developing locations for CVS and Family Dollar so partnering direct with national tenants works well too.

Strongly recommend understanding of the pecking order aka capital stack, especially in today’s environment where every other day a new sponsor appears to be going under.

With a simple syndication, where the OA is silent, why not just amend the OA with one sentence, "Ownership is by contributed capital, which reflects the true economic relationship among the partners." 

Develop strong negotiation skills. 

In this market, trying to extend them or be provided extra time may be difficult given this strong seller's market.Generally, yes it would be good if you have a "feel" or "inkling" of what it takes to repair/replace stuff. 

Examples:- If you want to avoid making a costly tax mistake, and you plan to start out as a passive investor in a syndication - there's really nothing that requires professional tax help at the onset- If you're starting out as a flipper (not recommended) and are bringing in family members as partners (also not recommended) - you probably should engage a tax pro early onRead this blog post: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51/topics/1088325-expla...

I’m very interested in partnering up with other newbies in real estate for something similar to this. 

Starting out should my business partner and I form a LLC together before buying our first house to flip.