I also understand that a lot of it will all depend on what I can find in terms of a property and what kind of numbers I will see in cashflow but my thoughts are that if I look hard enough I can do better than my current situation - getting no cashflow.

This is value add opportunity- rents had previously been under market value (450/month) and since acquiring the property and renovating it, the management team recently raised the rents to match market value in the area (525/month) The property is projected to generate over 25k of monthly income, a cash flow of almost 11k a month, and the annual cash on cash ROIis projected to be nearly 32% This would be my first large multi-unit apartment deal and I’m looking to either obtain a commercial loan for the property or (ideally) find private/hard money lender that would might also (eventually) serve as a partner/mentor/associate/eventual first to a smart, hardworking, and ambitious young real estate investor.

I was thinking about holding the 17K to help me get a hard money loan so that I can do a deal, but I starting thinking that maybe my first step should be to get my debts down so that I can do deals without the worry of them not getting excepted because of the debt to income ratio.

Therefore, you can deduct items that are directly related(repairs) to the rental units plus items paid indirectly for the rental units(think real estate taxes, interest, insurance).in addition - it looks like you are looking to use parts of the personal residence as a home office.Just note that, it would be hard to prove that you use 100% of the personal residence as a home office. 

Save your hard earned equity for more investments while young. 

Most hard money lenders have relationships with these kinds of banks and can introduce them to you.I work with a hard money lender out of Tarrant County.

It is hard for the following reasons.You need to know what the ARV is for your target market and how to actually comp properties appropriatelyYou need to know what rehab costs are in order to estimate the amount of work needed for a propertyYou need to be good at marketing in order to be able to find the off market dealsYou need to be good at negotiating in order to be able to win investors and sellers alikeSo...why do most investors get annoyed at wholesalers?

I was having fun but working too hard.

@Sammy Lyon It's hard to suggest coverages if we don't know how much risk you want to take, but I will assume with you being out of state, you want to be more conservative. 

Hey everyone,      I have seen and heard people talk about 5-10% down conventional loans but I am having a hard time finding one in my research.