I handle early terminations basically the same way.It also gives the tenant an incentive to leave the property clean and move in ready

Team up with another investor or a person who knows a lot about real estate to help with the money needed upfront or extra cash.

o Commercial loan, sort of - they are 30-year fixed DSCR loans with private national lenders.o We close in an entity/LLC 99% of the time - very rarely do we receive a request to close in someone's personal name.

Are you buying to house hack or rent out both sides.There are so many personal questions to answer, before you begin analyzing deals.Factors such as jobs, population, tenant laws, median income, affodability, crime, schools are all metrics to considerGood Luck!

And the bank will need a contact person for security reasons.  

It effects every aspect of the property and performance- the type of loans and insurance you need will change if you don't hold the property in your personal name. 

Can anyone recommend a design build company that would handle any zoning needs with the city, as well as complete the construction and leave it rent-ready for me? 

If  your rule is not to rent to anyone with a prior eviction, this person would fall under that rule.  

And what I am personally seeing the Market place today.Commercial bank/ community bank were you have significant deposit relationship and long term relation ship..   7 to 10% plus 1/2 to 1.5 points.. these are relationship and experience and capacity lenders..

I admit it's not sexy and it's slow, but it works.If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy a personal home with 3-5% down then repeat every 12-18 months.