Person 1 cowers on the floor in a fetal position while person 2 becomes the hero and beats them all up.2 different people act completely differently in the exact same situation.Why?

I'd recommend getting involved early on in land acquisition, rezoning, vertical development and construction facilitation your equity will be substantially higher 

Properties with significant equity and have a mortgage on it the mortgage company typically pays it so they do not get wiped out.

You do have somewhat of a positive track record; if it can be verified you should be able to find “partners” willing to provide the capital.  

Our model is to buy distressed properties("grandpa's old home"), forced equity by rehabbing them.

Putting 5% down and buying a property a year will allow you to acquire properties quickly while still scaling wisely.Take all of this with a grain of salt, it's solely what I would do in your position.

It was 100% positive - do it!  

I prefer this model because you're forcing equity and creating wealth from the start.

This creates a negative initial position.

Consider using the equity in your home with a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit).