To earn passive income through commercial real estate, investors should aim to purchase properties with desirable locations and solid tenant bases and hire a property management company to handle day-to-day operations.8.Private LendingPrivate lending involves lending money to other real estate investors for their projects.

If I find a lender that’s willing to loan me 100% of the purchase price, rehab, etc., but I have to put in a 3-5% closing cost, is it worth it?

Like all towns with high crime, it's not entirely bad, but you do run the risk of lenders wanting to reduce LTV to reduce risk due to the area (if you're going DSCR anyways).

@Benjamin Giles    Any conventional lender should be able to do it.

This depends on the lender's policies, the property value and your overall financial situation. 

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Would anyone be willing to share their experience with this firm (privately) with me? 

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I'd speak with a lender about this, but they can probably use your rental income towards the next property or at least use it to help with your DTI ratio.

High cost of entry here, and I have found that most local lenders require 20-30% down with 6 months of reserves for expenses in case of vacancies.