I didn’t want to have to put the full 20% down so I went to 2 local banks that I had worked with before and said I wanted to do 10% down and they could put one of my free and clear houses on the loan as collateral.

I am a local full time investor with a few connections. 

For example I have a 3/2 SFR that has an unfinished basement, if I spent 15k to finish it and added a bedroom and a full bath to bring in another $250 a month in rent.

You should never buy any property without doing full title work.

My current thought is to look for a small multi-family unit to get started; I'm looking around a cost that is around 60% of my net worth in full - but of course, I'd like to leverage a mortgage so the majority of my net worth can remain invested elsewhere (incl. other properties in the future).My current state (I'll add more as time goes on if folks are posting):* Just got pre-approved for a %5.25 loan from Quicken with 0 points...

I'd ask for $20k and see how they respond @Michael BoyleEven with the seller credit, you'll still have to pay out of pocket for the repair...so maybe consider a backup plan...I'd rather have cash than the credit...have the seller take the full proceeds and write you a check for $10k at closing...good luck! 

As crazy as it sounds it is basic human behavior.

To get in with little money, the FHA is a 3.5% down loan... but it does carry the PMI for the full length of the loan.

This scam really only worked because BP is full of people who honestly feel driven to help others do well in this field.2.

This is also a full time job for many of us and our livelihood depends on our deal flow and we need capital to sustain it.