My plan is to continue buying and managing the props, with the goal of finding my children's college education and to support aging parents.  

Hi @Ken Nyczaj and welcome to BP, it has everything you need from free online educational videos to connecting to other investors, you can't go wrong on this site!

Leverage his criminal charges to your advantage.

A buddy was telling me that he heard of a method of getting financing via buying an established company and leveraging the company's equity to obtain financing.Is this real/legit or should I tell him to beware?

Working with investors as an agent, even if not as lucrative as retail buyers, will help to educate me further on what to look for in local deals. 

Here has everything you need from free online educational videos to connecting to other investors, you can't go wrong on this site!

only 15 so you can catch up pretty easy.I have had a ton of fun educating myself.   

I believe leverage was one of the items.

Meaning you can maximize your one time chance of buying a property with 96.5% leverage via a government subsidized loan - Considering the two above over the long term if you buy a multifamily you will have: 1) Created more equity via loan paydown and appreciation2) More cash flow and stabilityIn my opinion you want to go as big as possible when doing FHA.

If you have some leverage, you can just say no, the deal stands as is.