And in the podcast and in other places I keep hearing people say they get hard money lenders or put up their own capital or some other form of financing to originally purchase and reno a house and then refi with a traditional lender. 

Here are some options I offered: I could just buy it outright with a traditional mortgage. 

(Which goes against traditional thinking) But Grant has taught me that this way of thinking put a limit on my potential.

The contribution to a traditional IRA may or may not be fully deductible depending on the contributor's income and whether or not he is covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

I am not sure of my chances with HMLs because it will be my first and i can't do traditional loan beause of all the money i'll need to put down upfront.

The 90 day hold does pose issues with traditional shorter term Transactional Funding.

State laws are not being applied uniformly to retail sellers of manufactured homes or personal property-only finance companies as compared to the application of the SAFE Act to traditional mortgage lenders.

You will occasionally find a traditional wholesale deal come along but there are a massive amount of REO's here in FL to capitalize on.

This is tactic is frowned upon by almost everyone in the real estate business so I am not surprised this is where you now stand.As for the attorney covering some of the buyer's CC, there are some costs which are traditionally split or covered by the seller.

I still wonder if this is the best way to focus my time and energy or could I be more successful in another "traditional" type of business.When you think $100 - $300 a door a month, it doesn't sound like much money on one hand, but on the other hand you have a steady monthly cash flow, hopefully an appreciating asset, tax benefits, etc...I guess my question is, for the people that fully committed themselves to investing in real estate, what made you choose this path over another?