Attorneys only chase deep pockets.

You can develope some experience without getting yourself too deep.

It will also go a long way to proving to yourself and your family (the ones that may finance you) that you are financially responsible and will protect their interests, too, in the future, instead of jumping head first into a potentially damaging situation where you get in too deep and risk everyone's investment before you know what you're really getting into.

"Commercial lender I spoke with was looking 30% down for 25 years with an interest rate around 4.5%"Before getting to deep with this I would check on the following.Is this lender really a direct lender??

Not sure that I want to get in this deep from 1000 miles away.  

I won't be able to invest for another 5-7 years since my wife and I are working on paying off debt and saving up for a down payment on our own home here in Florida, but real estate really interests me so I am trying to learn as much as I can so that when we do decide to dive into it, hopefully there will be several things that I have a decent base in.

Specifically1.1 (shallow) and 1.9 (deep) ug/l.

The prime rate reached 21.5%.The Volcker program triggered a sharp recession from January 1980, five months after he arrived, to July 1980, and then a very deep and painful recession from July 1981 to November 1982—“double dip recessions.”

Interesting that you have a wide breadth of contractors that you rely on, focusing on deep expertise in these areas rather than using general handy-man/contractor.  

Pro's - receive high interest and money secured my the real estate at a deep discount.Con's - borrower defaultingI would think if the borrower declared bankruptcy you would already have a reverse quit claim deed in place to take back the home, your in the first position lien on the property. 3%-5% loan origination fee and 12% - 18% annualized interest.