I am posting my struggles here because Multi-Family is my primary interest and I own 4 units (2 student housing duplexes) and want to grow my portfolio.  

If you need quick funds to take advantage of opportunities that can then be financed on their own then a HELOC is a better way to go.Oh, and it will make a difference to the lender whether the property you are getting the loan on is your primary home or a rental - you'll get better rates on a primary.

You could designate him the primary lien holder, but the hard money lender who is provide way more $ would have to agree to that. 

You can do FHA loan that will allow you 3.5% down payment as long as you are living in the property as your primary residence.  

The Real Estate Marketplace on this platform is a great place to look for investor deals. 

My primary client acquisition strategy is cold calling fsbos.

On a primary residence you can pull out up to 80% LTV on a SFR and up to 75% LTV on 2-4 unit multi-families.

I have a primary home with a mortgage already so I really doubt, I'd be able to get a normal conventional loan from a bank due to debt/income. 

Inventory is tight here....as it was before the crash and yet I have done very well on my 2 primary home purchases over the past 18 years with both doubling in value over 1996-2002 and 2002-2015 respectively.

We had to move out of state from MI and now we are running into difficulties with insuarance companies because our primary residence is no longer insured in MI.