I personally have seen gifts, 401k loans, car loans, personal loans, credit cards, private money, etc.

To your question as to setting up automatic payments… 90% of our tenants have a bank account (free) or credit card (3% fee)  linked to the application where they have individual logins, and they have to press one button to pay their rent.  

That's really difficult when you're just starting out.What's not so difficult is having acceptable credit, and in this economy, that makes another solution viable.Get a credit card with a high balance and no membership fee and do not use it.

Do I need a business card to pass out or am just collecting business cards?

So after winning a restraining order (squatter was meddling with his finances).

The only reason I went with that lender was because he was able to close in 2 weeks and in this hot market, that’s what made my offer the winning one to the seller.

It may be a win/win situation for both of you.

You may want to try one of those credit score prediction tools - I know I am offered one through Capital One and American Express - if you have any cards that offer free credit score they may also have a tool like that.

If you have an LLC established with business checking you could open up a line of business credit or use business credit cards (for 0% APR the first year) to fund a lot if not all of the renovations and then use the cash flow and a cash out refi to pay them off.I've never done this though, I am really interested in learning more about leveraging business credit though and believe from my research this could be viable.

I am worried that if I decline the settlement offer and pursue legal action, that even if I win, my chances of actually getting the money from him are slim.I know no one can really give legal advice here, but I'd appreciate some good ol' advice just the same.