In my experience... putting on a tie and sitting down with a loan officer will get you much further, especially with the smaller banks and credit unions.

Feel free to give me a shout if you have any questions or looking for tips!

Lara Chinarro some high level tips.

Good credit and relationships with investor friendly lenders will serve you well also.If I let you behind our office doors to see our model you would see a very diverse business strategy, we don't rely on just one area of the market, hopefully protecting us if there is a major correction in a specific area. 

It sounds like a great place to start is finding a house below market to not owe so much to the loan officer while I can profit from monthly income from tenants paying up, thoughts???

Hearing those success stories is a big part of what motivates us to show up at the office every day.

In their rehabs, they would put new counters, appliances, cabinets, etc and pool and renovate the leasing office and usually add a gym.  

what are the struggles you are facing and do you have any tips?

My guess is you are only seeing the tip of this iceberg.

However, and after exhaustive phone calls to the county SO, Clerk of Courts & auditors' offices, no one knows or will give that answer because it is "legal" advice.