I'm blessed to work from home with my current job and that has allowed me to spend more time with my family, but it'd be fun to not worry about our finances as much and be able to take more trips and vacations.

Our family has been renting a single-family home (see description/additional background below) for the last 2 years and are considering buying the property from the landlord via private sale.

I expect to discover that we have a lot of wasted spending.

If you find a deal the money can come (owner financing, Fund & Grow, private capital, hard money loans, etc).

Another property has fallen in my lap, and I have a private equity partner lined up for this property.

With repairs this house could be 650+ after the conversion to single family.I'm looking for a private lender that would be able to finance this property in a 75% after repair value with 3k/ monthly or less, and full due in 1-2 years.

However, my opinion (not a lawyer) is don’t spend too much time thinking it over.  

The cabin has great features for both.  2/2 (no garage) on a man made lake, private HOA community, on a bus route for the local schools.  

I have a friend on the West Coast who is private lender and he had to foreclose on a property near me.

You may have a higher tolerance for it, but with everything else you'll be doing to work on your investment business, the less time you spend in the car the better!