I have a few personal conventional loans on some rental properties under my own name.

Back a couple of years ago, there were financial government incentives to install the panels as well as very low (or possible no interest) loans.

Second home loan - only 10% down!

I am debating on whether to just apply for a loan or use my equity/ cash to buy my first property?

Quote from @Jimmy Rojas: Hey guys, im located in Phx,az and would like to invest on my first property here, I would like to know what are my options, I am self employed and bring in about $4k a month (mostly cash )no paper work to trace my earnings (im in the car selling business)  , experian score 630  1 delinquent acct but it was paid off many years ago, Ideally i would like to put down $10k to $15k tops, what interest rate do you all think im looking at.Nobody will loan to you if you can't prove your income.

I think we'll take out private loans for tuition.

Definitely hard money loan.

That requires guidanceIf you are a lender, the worst loan you can make is in second position on an over leveraged Subject To for someone who has no money.

The problem is that I can't get a loan - I'm too good at taxes, and don't have enough income to qualify for conventional products, and don't have enough portfolio, cash/flow, or experience to get hard money.

You could hire an appraiser on your own and tell him you want to know what the property is worth, not whether or not it will cover the loan.