In this economic environment, it's all about the payment and how that effects the bottom line.Also depends on what you plan to do with the property.

The one time I needed support, their tech support responded quickly and effectively.

Here's my 2 cents, for what it's (or isn't) worth:If you have a solid understanding of construction and construction management and are willing and able to hold the hands of your subcontractors ("handymen"), it's definitely more cost-effective to rehab a property on your own.

This will have a dramatic effect on your COC (cash on cash) return in the short term.

Might be more cost effective. 

I'd say no, it wouldn't be like a normal loan that affects DTI.I'd also say the example money I've seen thrown around to do IB effectively is large, like $50k over-funded.  

I thought of a few options but wasn't sure how they'd work out in practice:Reduce my equity stake (say, 30% instead of 50%--in that second example, that would effectively give my partner a 14.8% cash-on-cash return)Stick with a 50% equity stake but agree that my partner is entitled to a greater share of any monthly cashflow to meet their rate of return goalsDesignate that a higher portion (e.g. 75% or 100%) of any cashflow goes to my partner until it's equal to their initial cash investment, after which it reverts to an even split (so assuming 100% of positive cashflow goes to my partner, in the second example, he or she would be "repaid" in 2 years 8 months)Tie my equity to my work (as a manager) on a sliding scale--at closing, my partner would have 100% equity, but I would effectively "buy into" the property over time based on what I would have otherwise taken as a management fee (in the second example, since a 30% management fee would normally grant me $7,200 per year, I'd effectively "repay" $7,200 per year towards my half ($16,500) of the $33,000 cash invested in the property, and so after the first year, I'd own a 21.8% equity stake, after the second I'd own a 43.6% equity stake, and then after 2 years 4 months, I'd hit my 50% equity stake)These are just a few "creative" things I came up with after mulling this over a bit, but maybe there are downsides to some of them or maybe there are other options.

Amelia Moore I would not touch the student loan debt for three reasons1) It's at 2.5% and that is better than most mortgages 2) When you refi, you will have to take cash out and this will have a negative effect on the pricing of your loan.

The most effective way is to go to all your local meetups and get to know people.

Typically that will be more cost effective than trying to use private money.Private money on your first deal may want to see 10-30% down from you and charge somewhere between 9-12% interest to take a chance on you, until you build up your track record.