If you are afraid you have spread yourself out too thin after you close, consider utilizing a 0% apr credit card just to get you started and to get your units rented out. 

I am all for mentorship that promises the student a true way to get from A-Z. 

My question is....is there a such thing as a true cash buyer?

It is true, the interest rate is higher and the amortization is somewhere between 20 and 25 years.  

No sweat if you'd rather play those cards closer to the chest.

Decent credit score gets you better interest rates, lower loan to value gets you better interest rates, low debt ratio gets you better interest rate and the converse is true for all of those. 

A few things are left out of the analysis:  What are the true costs of turnover when a tenant leaves? 

HELOC is harder to get for investment property but not impossible, similar LTV restraints but would work for lower dollar amounts, basically think of it as credit card backed by your house.You'll probably find that closing costs on a cashout might make small amounts seem unattractive... plus if the loans older you're going to have higher rates.

So negotiate with the seller and ask questions to find the true source of his pain.

The discount you took was quite high, unless there are some things I'm not aware of like it was overpriced vs true value.