Dan Hi Dan, I think of it this way.Hard Money Lenders are people in the business who respond quickly, are set up to do real estate transactions and charge more money for the convenience and speed.

I highly recommend you and your friend educate yourself about setting up a partnership.

Use their age or ages and set one or two index target funds with Vanguard.

I'd wait until you have the money set so that you don't have extra moving parts.

Of course these properties are old, and require more maintenance than others somewhere else would.What I'm getting at is that my skill set, my area, and my mindset regarding investing complement each other in what I've chosen to do within the field of real estate investing.

I have my LLC set up, a rough outline business plan and will be joining my local REI but as far a taking the plunge I'm suffering from the infamous "analysis paralysis" when it comes to finding deals and making things happen.

The offering should set expectations.

Set aside 25% of all of it. 

Our occupancy is around 100 days.We have set up our "Team" with a good cleaning lady and a couple local handy men. 

If the market does adjust you will be ready and can be more selective.