What probably doesn’t help also is that we will be using hard money which eats into profits and so getting that better deal seems to be harder compared to investors that have cash. 

The key is that they are lending their own money, not just originating loans for Fannie and Hedge Funds  like the big banks do.First Western Federal Savings in SDNorth American Savings Bank in MOTitan Bank in TX

I was just at a conference where several hard and private money lenders fund these deals for investors and developers. 

But here is the thing when I reached for my phone to invest I couldn’t, because it's not as easy as buying stocks with a single click of a button in a specific stock exchange app, let alone searching for the right deal if you have time and if you don’t you gotta leverage it to someone who Is going to find the deal for you, after that, you will need to apply for a loan (DSCLR LOAN which I am going to use) because if you are like me you're going to use the bank's money, not yours, after that, you will need to search for tenants or your property will suck money from your pockets and it won't be an investment anymore, and this applies btw to residential and commercial the small difference Is that commercial needs bigger sums of money but other than that its kinda similar.

Those needing assistance raising money will benefit more from a service like what iFunding offers.

You will then have a few options with that rent money....you can put it into principal or you can start saving it to purchase yet another property.

I would put all the money for the down payment and closing costs. 

Honestly private money is not hard to find if you have the credit and down payment amount.

We took out a heloc from the SFH to get the money down for the duplex which we lived in one of the units.

.- Your out-of-state investor agent should have plenty of recommendations for local contractors, lenders (conventional and hard money), property managers, etc. and be able to identify appropriate assumptions for your analysis (e.g., appreciation, vacancy, rent estimates, etc.).If you have questions, feel free to PM me--happy to help.