It would be best to get it from friends and familyThose with little experience are struggling to raise money (I am in a group with 20+ syndicators and everyone is raising less and those who are first timers are basically drying up after first $500k-$1M)As mentioned syndication route would be your best bet but make sure to have a great plan in place on what you are going to do and how you will exit

Planning to be living together in CLT for at the least 2+ years, after this- up in the air on staying or moving.

I would be inclined to do it for free if she’s your friend. i would be scared she had no plan to pay for the rehab when she purchased.How much money we we walking about?

But if you plan to invest out of state it'll be important to build your core-4: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-tea...I'd also recommend traveling to any out of state market you plan to invest in.

If you have plans to grow your investment business, I recommend getting it set up now.

Our plan is to rent out our current home, which we own, once we move into our new house. 

She's going to be on the catch-up plan, so she might need to tighten her belt a bit.

Further, Buyer beware - some of the stuff will not work and you have to plan accordingly.

We have all of our plans and have begun applying for permits (though that is taking much longer than expected due to Ian backup). 

My partner and i are planning to buy a property.