I would like to raise private money from investors I know personally to syndicate a commercial multi-family project(under $1 million and between 2-12 units).

@Ryan Larsen, If you're going to a larger property the stress test you want to use is to compare your net proceeds as a down payment for the new property. 

There are several books out on raising private money and syndication, as well as MF real estate.

Based on what I determined during due diligence:The annual vacancy cost was >$3,500/Yr.Maintenance was >$300/Mo. or $3,600/Yr.The cost to make each of the units livable was about $15,000 each.There was no way to raise the rent even if the units were beautiful.

It's called a "test ad" and should have been ran during due diligence to test for the demand of your product in that market.

Since I purchased the building with a 15 years fixed loan the cash flow was not ideal (i.e. 5%); however the previous owners had not raised the rents for about 7 years, so I slowly started to increase rent.

Active investors, aka sponsors, aka general partners, build relationships with commercial brokers, find apartment deals, underwrite them, conduct due diligence, raise capital, manage the asset during the hold period, and communicate with investors along the way :) If you're interested in being an active investor, I'd encourage you to find a mentor.

It took them two weeks to come check the generator and a week testing to decide what to fix and now we wait for parts so no more storms I hope.

I just got out of a bad divorce that included a bankruptcy and I'm finding deals but struggling to get capital raised or qualify for a mortgage.

We raise capital for, develop farmland into, and operate vineyards here in Texas.