It is a risk management tool, and we all need those.You could even structure it so that the money partner (private lender) gets first lien on the property, and here again, you would want to have one partner for one lien (maybe not required but seems easier). 

We haven't even done our first deal yet (unless you count our primary residence which we're also thinking differently about at this point, thinking about potential value add's and potentially renting it out if we could find something else where the numbers make sense) but we're already hooked.I am a professional delivery driver for a fairly large company and for the last month during work I've been burning through the BP podcasts at a very rapid rate. 

My main issue is finding private money for the down payment.

Is an equity partner similar to private lenders?  

There are now many "private" flood insurance companies competing with the Government run NFIP.

I can keep the second and third position loans in place, but would like to get the personal $30K outDoes anyone have a recommendation for a bank or private lender that will finance around $520K+ (86%LTV) on a rental???

You are asking them to be a private lender. 

How about owner financing or private money ( I don't mean hard money)?

I plan to use hard money and private lending to fund a flip.

Meanwhile, you obtain a loan from a private lender that the dealer will introduce you to.