The tenants will use a card to pay, the third party will collect the payments and payout 50% of the gross income to the landlord.There third party will pay landlord $250 in decorating costs and require landlord to make the laundry room accessible to tenants between the hours 0700-2200. 

Create a criteria for yourself.Also, are you looking at a 30 year mortgage with a 25% down payment?

Save up more (not just the down payment) and pay cash for properties? 

I’d like to hear people’s thoughts on obtaining a second loan to avoid using out of pocket money for a down payment on a long term investment property...

(Also look into the FHA 203K loan)Another benefit to going with a multifamily is that it can "boost" your purchase price using 75% of the other income to help your debt to income ratio... so $1000 rental is worth $750 to offset any PITI payments.

Down payment: is it possible to achieve any sort of financing without using your own finances?

After you've done some strategic improvements and built the tenant stability, you can sell the property and roll the equity into another with no out-of-pocket down payment.

Purchase price: $45,000 I bought the home to live in and did so until 2015 when I refinanced it for 68k to a down payment on the purchase and rehab a new house.It was then the I started renting out my original home.

(this is important if you do need a short term loan to purchase then refinance out - and the answer should be 1 day...very important that it is 1 day on title is all that is needed to refinance) What is my minimum down payment required?

This was all done within the span of about 3 months.My current W2 job provides me with enough income that I should be able to scrape together enough money for an FHA down payment quickly, I have a FICO of 780+, I’m in a buyer’s market from what I can tell [Topeka, KS].