In your case I would budget for replacement, but entertain the idea of painting them.

Any ideas?

I have 5 business ideas that involve real estate and giving back to the community, to decrease violence in cities I once lived like Chicago and DC. 

The only idea I have left is to ask my realtor if she can provide me info off the MLS.

They usually deal with a lot of banks (like you're attempting to do on your own right now), so they have an idea on who can best service whatever type of loan that you need.

I think it is a great idea to bring together like minded people in your age group to learn together, support each other & to read & discuss the same books concepts etc.  

it seems as if option #1 allows you to quickly scale with less money (basically furniture and a security deposit) but has the downside of lower margins since you're not building equity.I've also thought of other ideas such as buying a few properties under a llc with several other investors, where the total cash per person would be the same as if you bought 1 property by yourself but it's diversified across different markets and reduced risk.

Any insight, advice, or ideas would be greatly appreciated, I love Bigger Pockets and am excited to have joined this community of incredibly resourceful and creative people!!

A mentor is a great idea.

This is an $850k equine facility, the owner and I agree that offering terms will open it up to a lot of people getting started in the business- just want to have some idea of what he can/should offer, and things to watch out for!