My plan is to hold the place long-term and use it to help gain a stable income during retirement. 

Next $1 million split between income and equity.  

Ron's company has my name from an online web marketing conference I "attended."

And tenants that pass muster - good credit scores, stable jobs, good income, no criminal background, no evictions, etc - generally are responsible pet owners.

This house currently has no renter though they are actively looking to put one in the home.House 5. rents for $725/m the loan will cost me $13,000 as a down payment and $6,000 closing costs, and should cash flow approx $275/m after mortgage payment are made.House 6. rents for $725/m the loan will cost me $14,000 as a down payment and $6,000 closing costs, and should cash flow approx $250/m after mortgage payment are made.To be able to make this down payment I have the option to:HELOC my current home which cost me about $850/m in repayments OR I can find a hard money lender who would be interested in working with me, I am currently putting together a hard money lender proposal to show a couple family members that would basically look like this: No repayment in the first 12 months, all income going into an account to allow for repairs and emergencies, after that taking the cash flow and splitting it 75/25 to the lender paying it off in approximately 13 years, sooner if we can make extra payments on it and giving the lender an 8% return on his money(about .5% less than what I was quoted for my HELOC).ORI can potentially do a deal with my brother who is also looking to get into real estate and we split the properties 3 a piece.These properties are right outside of a military base in a low income city but have done well for the family currently owning them with consistent long term renters in them.I am looking for any advice as to whether or not this is a deal worth pursuing.

I would not recommend any online courses like the above reply suggested. 

My biggest issue with snowballing is my family's budget must be paid by a decent percentage of the income I make

Read books, take online courses, and join local real estate investment groups.

Keep my debt/income ratio down!

Use liquid assets to assist in meeting full doc debt-to-income (DTI) ratio requirements. - Cross Collateralization.