My recommendation is to find a good mortgage broker and build that relationship, they can be invaluable when looking for commercial loans. 

You can get a gift for a down payment but it must be from a  blood relative or "like" relative  and the you must explain the close relationship and why the "like" relative would give you a gift. a GIFT for downpayment is money given willingly to a buyer without repayment. 

Investing in relationships will have an infinite return, because real estate is all about who you know! 

If you go to some local meetups in your area, you can start building relationships to assist a seasoned investor, learn from them, and then benefit over the long-term.

It was pretty straightforward as my mom had a personal relationship with the seller, so the seller was comfortable with the processes and the agreed price.

If you're looking to use that $250,000 to passively invest, I would suggest reaching out to several syndication groups to start building relationships and seeing their deal flow.

However, the Landlord has a duty to mitigate the Landlord's damages by re-letting the property in a reasonable period of time.This is the procedure I follow for early Tenant termination of Lease:First, I maintain a professional, friendly, and empathic relationship with the Tenant throughout the process.

I’m also aware that the housing market is not “cheap” if you look at a historical real estate housing price chart that is inflation adjusted.Why buy today???

Rates are at a historical low and I think its safe to assume that rents will continue to increase overtime.

Organically build these relationships.