My question is: how do I start with little personal capital?

Lender will use the middle score of whichever persons score is the lowest.

I currently live in Silicon Valley but house prices aren't feasible for me here.

Loan is for 330k, house is listed for 635k. 

I think that I'd have a hard time investing in San Francisco, for example, personally.

Personally, I wouldn't touch it. 

If I could do this all over again, I would probably go for a smaller house.

Talking to a real person with experience has given me a huge sigh of relief. 

It wasn't until I narrowed my focus on ONLY ONE THING general contracting that things fell more into place...My advice is to educate as much as  possible and find a niche that you can dive deep into.Meeting in person is where I found some of my best friends and mentors in the space.  

@Ankush R.yes, when you're OOS you're entirely dependent on your team with no ability to meet people in person, add value, see properties in person, etc.