If you have low equity and low cash flow then that is not a good situation. 

Guess which one came back low

@Devin CutlerI can finance your HELOC funding request.

Quote from @Joseph Milano: I would talk to the renter to see what they want to do.The easiest method is to get tenant's permission to apply the funds toward their next month of rent.If they prefer the money back, I would issue them a check, money order, or cashier check when they sign the new lease.

Housing in those areas is very nice, and super pricey.Farther away, housing is much less nice (and much cheaper) but your chances of renting to college students is very low.

You'll have so many more grout lines and that is where the maintenance issues are.To be blunt, it sounds like you don't have the funds to do this right, so why bother?

But I'm pretty sure I can't find any houses for 20k around here If you want low income rentals stay as far away from NYC as possible.

Looking into this, myself.low-friction rent collection and low cost are the must haves.  

Ultimately you'll want to make sure you have a good financial foundation and once that is set in place, learn your market, learn what to expect, stick with what you know or have the ability to learn and then you'll have a MUCH clearer picture of what to use those extra funds for.

What are the effective methods to distribute such an offering and actually to obtain an equity.I will highly appreciate any input especially from members who are experienced with foreign Syndication or Crowed Funding.