I agree with some of your concerns, but if you structure your lease term from August-June, you could mitigate the vacancy and still receive rent for 11/12 months, with one month to turnover the rental and complete any improvements that are needed.

When acquiring these old gems, or objective is to improve their energy efficiency by a minimum of 50% (40% on newer, post War houses) while updating the building to provide modern, healthy living spaces for our tenants.  

I have 20+ sF D, C and B propertiesI own several of these properties in my name, some in a LLC , some that I purchased with credit card debt and some that I own free and clear with no associated debt. 

@Len Roche my first loan was with Wells Fargo (back in 2009) then I talked to my brother-in-law about a loan he had on his investment property with American Airlines Credit Union.

A personal guarantee of the retirement account owner for debt taken on by the account is an "extension of credit" and is a prohibited transaction.Real estate debt financing within an IRA will result in UDFI, which will be taxable income to the IRA.

@julius dixon (HELOC) Home Equity Line of Credit.

I can probably use about 60k of that as a HELOC (home equity line of credit).  

Small bank or credit union that is portfolio lender is your best bet.

If you have a salary and a decent credit score, you should have no problem getting a loan for a deal. 

Again I’m moving slow trying not to get in a mess early in the game.I've owned both since August 2016I have ok credit nothing to write home about, 650/680About 5k liquid.ThanksStewart