In my experience, local banks will typically have more favorable terms BUT it is worth it so give a call / send an email to 10-15 lenders in your area (have a mix of both institutional banks and local credit unions) and ask them what kind of terms you can get given your goal.

You should join the NAA and utilize the National Apartment Associations Education Institute.

@Gabriel Craft I would buy 50/50 built-to-rent SFR in Florida and Texas with 80/20 financing, on this scale probably with private money or institutional money for the loans

People are clamoring for these rent-ready homes in the retail space, the institutional buyer space, and the small investor space.

So if you sold for $1m and bought a property for $400k the IRS would look to tax the $600K you didn't spend.Since you don't have excess cash you may want to consider something like a Delaware Statutory Trust which will absorb your debt with the institutional financing of the sponsor.

These are true institution offerings...

They are passive investments in an institutional quality asset.

It's a unique situation to buy into a larger multifamily deal with a major institutional investor that has yielded a minimum of 20% and often higher when they sell after 5-6 years because my husband works in commercial real estate.

This is a very common question that's not just specific to small and mid-cap investors but also the institutional firms as well. 

Many sponsors may not have the track record to buy an institutional piece of property and place it in a DST.