I've reached out to the gentleman that owns the large PM group in the area to see if he knows of any smaller PM that I can connect with and I also messaged my credit union to find out what my best options would be.

Several options you can explore to get the down payment capital: Solo401k; HELOC on personal residence or from equity of the SFR; Cash Value Life Insurance Policy; Business Credit; Private Lenders, to name a few.

Ask for a discount for prepaying for an in house credit?

If you’re looking at retrofitting to separate heating for each unit (like furnaces or mini-splits), you might be looking at a higher upfront cost, but it can shift utility expenses to tenants and improve your NOI.I’d factor in boiler age and efficiency when analyzing deals and if it’s near the end of its life, negotiate a price reduction or a credit.

On top of that there was an $8,000 tax credit, as an incentive since people weren’t buying.  

@Vinny Muli - it is VERY hard but not impossible to get an equity line of credit on a non owner occupied property. 

Congrats, on both of those deals and, more importantly, on staying persistent to find your niche.Lots of misinformation on this thread.Andrey is not pitching anything or lyingHe is not expecting 30% IRR on every opportunityFinding and vetting trustworthy sponsors is not as hard as non-syndication investors thinkPerforming diligence on sponsors takes years, not hours or daysMany sophisticated LPs perform extensive diligence on sponsors and opportunities that is not discussed on BP (TLO reports on history of crime, bankruptcies, collections, credit, businesses owned, personal residence owned, employment, family members (including phone numbers), even traffic violations...the list goes on)Many LPs leverage sites like Ian's, 506 group, in-person conferences, and one another to analyze opportunities and sponsors together (it's a lot more sophisticated that the "what do you think about XYZ" posts on BP)There are tons of sponsors and opportunities that don't use short-term, bridge financing or max leverageMost are using 5-12 year debt, with inception LTVs in the 70s and year 2-3 LTVs in the 60s (and carry high reserves on top of that)The opportunities discussed on BP are only a small fraction of what's available in the marketPrudent syndication investing is just like anything else in life...it takes diligence and time. 

Given your financial constraints and the property's ineligibility for historic tax credits, this approach allows for reinvestment into assets more aligned with retirement account rules.For future real estate investments, you don't need an LLC for tax reasons.

In the meantime, focus on building your credit, saving for a down payment, and soaking up as much knowledge as you can.

For me, I am a little hesitant because I would be in a situation where I would be trying to secure traditional lending (which should be very feasible given credit scores & what $$ amount I am pre-approved up to from my banks), meaning that I assume I would be forced into using my first-time homebuyer loan incentives.