The only time we've successfully levered a note was when we had an end buyer for a larger commercial note where we flipped to a pre-arranged end-buyer, but needed the money super-short-term. 

If you are non-accredited you will only be able to invest in 506(b) offerings and to do that you will need a pre-existing relationship with the sponsor before they find a deal.

$4K to $5K ($2K to $2.5k each) month is a lot to be negative, but Big Bear high season is ski season. 

But when I bought my first house, I was paying 15% APR and it didn't deter me a bit (but I was young and dumb)

See this recent thread, Innovation in the Hard Money Lending Space.For lenders with appealing terms and decent lending criteria, this is an extremely slow-moving and inefficient market. 10% plus two points for a 6-month loan is a 14% APR, or 12% APR if you write your notes for a year.

A case example might be where a person inherits a pre-foreclosed property from an abusive family member and the person does not have it in them to to right the situation and keep the property. 

They are doing a cash offer where they will provide cash up front for a pre-qualified buyer.

So any landlords that have already served notice of increase (I had respectable increases set to take effect on Apr 1) are hooped. 

Be aware that in the commercial lending space you will have a pre-payment penalty for typically the length of the fixed period. 

From everything I have read/listened to on raising funds for syndication, a pre-established relationship seems to be the most important component to getting one to invest.