You are paid out of the deal and at the end of the day, the buyer is the one who funds the deal. 

If so, I assume I would need to have the funding pre-approved prior to making an offer so we could pull the trigger immediately? 

Initially I was starting with wholesaling b/c I have minimal to no funds to get started.

I am looking for advice and knowledge on how to go about getting into a second deal with all my funds tied up in this duplex currently.  

Everywhere I look people make it sound so easy, but it is not at all especially if you don't have a lot of funds to invest.

I mean I am turnkey I was the number 24 new home builder out of the top 30 in the Portland market.. and all of are product are TURNkey I suspect  they are brand new homes.. just like the buys I fund here in the PDX metro area they are flippers.. they just NEVER sell to investors its all home owners.. and homeowners want fresh new modern rehab.. so investors same thing they want fresh new rehabbed rentals.. and if you can bring the management component that helps them.. but I bet Memphis has their share of flippers that sell to home owners.. they are turn key in a sense..

Initial CapEx Funding at property closing: At closing, as part of my 'cash needed to close' calculation, I take 3% of the sales price and set it aside in a separate CapEx savings account.  

But it should be clear from the examples above that things can sometimes take an unexpected turn for the worse.My goal was to own properties free and clear so that the cash flow could fund an early retirement.

I’m open to creative ways of funding deals using some of the equity or possibly selling these properties to fund better investments.

An example, and a huge one, is how much cash does it take to "enter" each use of funds...the two uses being a stock investment and a REI investment?