You might consider being a hard money lender or doing a joint venture the first time or two until you know more about the process. 

Have 2 major concerns about option A;Concern #1: I'm afraid in option A if I find a property myself (especially unlisted/off-market) the agent will want credit (I'm constantly looking for the next diamond in the rough and had a situation like this happen once before...was one too many times).Concern #2: I'm looking at everything from duplexes up to 12 units...in my experience agents seem to specialize; some are residential, some commercial and there is usually a clear cutoff point between 1-4 unit and 5+ unit.Commercial agents don't generally find 2-4 units, and residential agents don't usually deal in apartment buildings.

We actually existed our retail property division in April to a national vendor, this department would take on any homeowner but not any property we were selective, but we were constantly battling massive overhead cost due to the unique qualities and building found at every site, being scattered site with over 700+ doors under management was super complex and required a lot of staff.

I would also join the local REIA to build possible Joint venture relationships. 12K and good credit is a good foot in the door.

Second, depending on your friends health and your state's Estate Recovery laws, the power of attorney can put your name as joint owner on the property with rights of survivorship.

Hi All,I'm looking for advice on channels for advertising a deal to potential investors.Do you ladies and gentleman have suggestions on platforms (online and offline) for connecting with individuals and groups to find a good fit for a joint venture on the following project overview?

I don't think you need to  be pre-approved by a lender if you create credit lines, check protection, line up friendly joint ventures, syndication. 

In engineering, we hold all other variables constant, change the value of one variable (the fixed rate) and rerun the analysis until you hit "your limit".  ??

In 2 years & having a constant portfolio of over 30 houses there was only 1 eviction & they provided us with daily updates.

I think a potential way forward for you would be a joint venture with someone local who has the experience and lines of credit with the lenders, and can mentor you into the process.