This is truly an amazing place to learn and grow!

And how out of the box did he "they" go to secure funding to continue growing?

My goal (like many perhaps), is to have a bit of financial freedom while investing and growing a strong rental portfolio.  

You have some great tools and pieces right now and those tools can be leveraged to help grow your portfolio.

A transaction under $10k can't be an ordinary transaction.I guess it's either some sort of transfer between family members (doesn't have to be non-legit).At tax auctions it is possible to find properties with minimum bids as low as a few thousands but usually these will be redeemed before the auction or will be going up in price during the bid process.If you make a more thorough research you can find out through the public records how the transaction was made and with what sort of financing.

I'm new with real estate investing, but can't wait to learn and make my business grow.

While there is a wealth of knowledge available on BP, it's also a great place for newbies to grow by sharing ideas and feedback with others as well. 

Hello, I'm always looking for ways to improve my community and to grow my net worth.

I mean this is bigger pockets and the primary topic of conversation here is SFR investments... then we all grow up and buy apartments and shoppimg centers.

I got a bit too far ahead of myself and cut off the option of conventional financing before I knew it.In any case, if you want to keep growing the portfolio, there are options beyond conventional financing.