Every time I am in town I go to lunch with our banker  We show him our projects why we are there... its so critical to have those personal relationships if you want to borrow any serious money form local banks.

While smart on FHA's part, made it a lot more difficult for buyers/borrowers using FHA's program to purchase in higher cost markets since the rent to price ratio typically needs to be at .90% or higher (approx) to make this SS rule fly.Freddie Mac Home possible is another program that is promising to lift this requirement and still offer a very competitive low down payment of 5% for 2-4 unit properties.There are a few stipulations and an income restriction for the borrower to qualify, but in most metro  areas  there are no income limits in a predominant area of the city.

Do you have enough income, never borrowing?

Everyone would do that throughout the country if that were possible so,I am gonna say"no".At least a traditional lender would never do it.Maybe if you borrowed it from a relative and kept the arrangement private and not put a lien on the property could that workout.

to "borrow" funds to use for down payments / rehab financing for real estate projects.

you can check with Gorrila capital in Eugene Oregon they will do first time borrowers.

BPers - I am borrowing money from a private lender soon and seek best practices around picking a loan servicer (lender doesn't have one). 

Good Morning BP,I have a question about pooling money borrowed from private lenders.In my example, a real estate investor has 5 individuals who are going to lend 10k each for a total of 50k.  

If credit is good borrow money and you use your cash to buy investment properties. 

On another note, if you are looking to have access to some of the retirement funds without having to pay taxes, you could open a solo 401k plan, which can be directly invested in real estate, and then you can borrow some of the solo 401k funds.Following are the similarities and differences between the solo 401k and the self-directed IRA.The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k Similarities Both were created by congress for individuals to save for retirement;Both may be invested in alternative investments such as real estate, precious metals tax liens, promissory notes, private company shares, and stocks and mutual funds, to name a few;Both allow for Roth contributions;Both are subject to prohibited transaction rules;Both are subject to federal taxes at time of distribution;Both allow for checkbook control for placing alternative investments;Both may be invested in annuities;Both are protected from creditors;Both allow for nondeductible contributions;Both are prohibited from investing in assets listed under I.R.C. 408(m); andNeither may be invested in your own business.