Credit Cards and HELOC combination.

Your debts as well as your credit score also factor into all of us.Presuming you meet all of those qualifications, you should reach out to a realtor and ask about seeing it and go from there.  

In the past, most of my clients have taken these funds as a line of credit (meaning they could use it however they want, when they want). 

Rents have doubled with autopayment mandated via credit cards. 

And what is your credit score?

It's also helpful to interview a few candidates to see who you feel most comfortable with in terms of understanding your goals and who can offer practical advice tailored to your investment strategy.Make sure to ask about their experience with real estate investors, their fee structure, and whether they have dealt with setting up similar business structures.

We no longer want to sacrifice any of my wife's income to invest in our rentals and only want to grow with the income that the business produces.

I'm also a newbie and not confident in evaluating projects and borrowers, so would prefer to partner and diversify.I'm looking at debt funds at crowd funders like Fundrise, as well as business development (BDC) ETFs like Ares, Blue Owl, Golub.

Its just a cost of doing business . 

Code § 10131A real estate broker within the meaning of this part is a person who, for a compensation or in expectation of a compensation, regardless of the form or time of payment, does or negotiates to do one or more of the following acts for another or others:… (b) Leases or rents or offers to lease or rent, or places for rent, or solicits listings of places for rent, or solicits for prospective tenants, or negotiates the sale, purchase, or exchanges of leases on real property, or on a business opportunity, or collects rents from real property, or improvements thereon, or from business opportunities.