4) Loan Paydown / Equity BuildupEven if you do not have much equity when you initially purchase the property, without contributing any additional capital you can build up significant equity.

In fact, sometimes you could end up making an over-improvement that doesn't contribute to value.

My scenario was this: - individuals may or may not be able to bring enough capital to the table at any time - my activities(**) had multiple individuals interested at any given time - individuals were both accredited and non-accredited with a wide variety of lending capabilities at a given time ($200K+ to <10K)- I refused to accept a "pool" of individuals as an "investor" unless accreditedMy conclusion was this: - I would point individuals in the right direction to create their investment pool, or "club", for investing - I let them know I would use their LLC but in the big picture they needed to "vet" other borrowers  - The implementation was via a multi-member LLC with an assist from a good attorney- The LLC could invest in any market, any deal, any person according to their agreement(s) - Like minded people could contribute capital to their LLC, then lend to me or anyone - I, individually or via my company, would interface with their LLC, borrowing with a first position lien or whatever they agreed to, just like other borrowersIn the end, the market made my decision easy.

Please feel free to provide feedback below, ask questions and contribute to a positive interaction.

If equity partner agreement, write an operating agreement that explains exactly what each persons responsibilities, contributions, and % profit/loss are.

Just save the $14K, leave your retirement plan alone (unless, of course, you reduce contributions - only contribute up to the point of the ER match, if any - which might free up cashflow) and get started when you have the funds.  

I would like to contribute.  

This would not be a long term solution though; eventually we'd like to be back in a SFH.So now, I put it to all of the creative, experienced people that contribute to this forum...What would you do in our situation?

Greetings,I have been an avid reader of the forums and decided it was time to contribute. 

@Miyako Boyer - Everyone here has good points to contribute.