I don’t like the idea of a lock because it is low class for where my building is.

Cant try to low ball.

This is were he has rent set at currently however it is relatively low.

Milwaukee will look cheap to you, but my recommendation is to stay away from low income and high crime areas and invest in areas with better school districts, especially if you are investing for someone else, you want to make sure you are buying a quality asset that will perform well past year one.See you around!

The type that will best for you will depend on your situations and investment goals.A self-directed IRA custodian/administrator is best if you will be making a singular more static investment with a relatively low dollar amount.

My partner, however, has spotty income, possibly $0 to put into the deal,  and likely a low credit rating. 

Is there a totally different strategy to leverage low FHA loan down payments when investing remotely? 

they require a low 1.0 debt coverage ratio so as long as your rents cover PITIA expenses then your good to go, cash out is required to be used for "business purposes" only their retail division is Cash Call mortgage, FICO can be as low as 600 and cash out LTV's from 65-75% based on credit, I used to work for IMPAC as they were rolling out the product, it is pretty competitive in the market for this type of financing. 

Debt to income is not an issue, we have very low debts compared to our income.If we were able to find a private lender for 12 months is the best route to get a home equity loan after those 12 months are up to pay back the private lender?

I have purchased and done renovations on 10 houses and have gotten pretty comfortable with the process. however I recently purchased 3 turn-key units that left me low on capital.