I started using my own and close family members money. 

In the end part of the hostile dispute to get money from me she claimed I should not have chanrged since hers is a service animal.

I also have a 401k that my 9-5 does a 5% match on so I do 5% just to get that basically free money as well.

They have good credit and generally manage their money well.

We want to use as much of the banks money as possible. 

You would borrow money to borrow money, which puts you in an over-leveraged position, just like a hard money loan or credit cards.Increase earnings, reduce expenses, increase savings, invest from a position of strength.

You have to go to other smaller markets in Florida to have a better selection, but pricing is still considerably higher than Detroit and your tenant pool will be smaller.

I.E. private money, seller financing etc.?

I started off in 2009 spending 3K on 5 liens and I got burned on two of them and lost most of my money.

Hands down the best there is for hard money!