I ended up approaching a small local bank in town and talked to the commercial lending department.  

Talk with as many banks as you can to get the best loan terms.

I live a little north of dallas and trying to find a group of people to talk with about real estate in my area.

Happy to talk if you have any further questions.

@Brad PierceDefinitely a huge topic and I'm not an expert, but there's significant content in a book called "Tax Free Wealth" by Tom Wheelwright (I believe).In that book he talks about the significant tax advantages of real estate and how some of them get cancelled out if you invest through an IRA.  

Message me if you have any questions or just want to talk real estate.  

I'm trying my best not to get discouraged and fall into the group that all these podcast/books/video say talk about, the ones who just never end up doing it because of fear.

You also need to talk to @Lee Smith ,Clay Manship  both straight shooters 

Our team has a lot of experience in OOS investing so we can definitely talk more.

It may have gone to the ex and she doesn't want to talk to him.