I think VCSH is a great choice too.  

John, I am in a similar situation, looking to diversify out of SFR in my local market and towards small investments in commercial real estate through crowdfunding but I am also not yet an accredited investor.I've found a ton of great information browsing BP as well as a lot of good informational material on a site maintained by @Ian Ippolito -- He provided this advice in another forum: "If you are nonaccredited, there are a lot fewer national choices: Richuncles, RealtyMogul and Fundrise.

I've read "The book on Rental Property Investing", "Rich Dad Poor Dad", and starting "The Millionaire Real Estate Investor", as well as listened to a ton of Ryan Morrisons Podcast, and A little bit of the Bigger Pockets podcast. 

Lender of your choice needs the other appraisal to be able to find out.

If renting would be the better choice, are there any investors that have a property that could accommodate them and their animals?

Thanks Ryan Cameron !

Thanks @Ryan Keeton, if you ever get interested or have questions about the market in the west end of the state, give me a call i would love to help or answer any questions i can!

Tim Ryan I found a business partner through BP to increase our funds.

If you use your name then you could apply for a low interest rate conventional loan but if you use business or LLC name then you have to apply for a commercial loan with higher interest rate.My money is on conventional loan, they only allow 4-10 of those loans anyways and then you have no choice but to go with portfolio or commercial loans.

So basically, i should try to get paid by a note when closing a sandwich, and only use transactional funding if i have no other choice.