I offered some 'free work'  in getting the deal rolling, then boom, I'm a JV partner in it when I was just trying to 'get' a 'free education' and offer value.

I work in construction material testing and I analyzed 4 deals on my phone while waiting for a concrete truck that was running late.

If you borrow 100k You would pay 5k as a loan origination fee (This can be rolled into the loan and not necessarily paid out of pocket)Then you would pay 1% a month as a payment to the hard money lender.

The good news is that I am in a great house and great location now, and still able to build my savings every month, so I am not in desperation mode, but still want to get the ball rolling on my investment career.  

I've test run it today and hoping to go live tomorrow.

My guess is you are talking about a simple JV or partnership where you and some friends all invest and all take an active roll in the property.  

A quadplex I'm interested in purchasing is newly renovated and still vacant so no rent roll.

My wife was studying for her RE license and got her test in the nick of time (think minutes difference between being allowed to test and having her test cancelled).

@Keegan Darby yes that can be common, if you are rolling in closing costs, escrows, and/or skipping 1 or 2 monthly payments. 

Tenants will be paying the bulk of your mortgage payments, you’ll build equity via principal paydown and appreciation, more tax benefits of owning vs renting, and you’ll be living very subsidized and able to save that much more cash to roll into your next investment property.How deep into the process have you gone?