That could heavily impact the numbers of renters trying to get into these areas.

Since I am using HML they will have a 1st position lien on the property, so can I secure the $30k with just a personal guarantee?

I'm pretty new to landlording and have never held a position as property manager.Joint ventures can be beneficial to both parties if the numbers look right and your cross your legal t's and dot your legal i's.

This duplex has a positive cash flow of $400 per month from the tenants after the overhead (ie water bill, grass cutting, and mortgage).

When you personally pull a credit report it negatively impacts your score greater than a bank.

The lesson is to never ever leave it in an open position when you have downstream shutoffs, and especially when you have downstream shutoffs!

But I managed to position myself with a few non rent controlled condos, and having those in this city is basically like printing money.

There are other strategies which require no money out of pocket but typically a beginning flipper is going to need some available money at hand to get into the game or even to put you in position to use those strategies.

Sometimes in this position we need to step back and look at the bigger picture and I think that is why you asked the question.

Also, having predetermined what is important to you in a loan - speed, low down payment, no credit check, or low interest rate/fees will enable you to concentrate on the lenders and brokers that deal in those types of loans.One important caveat - If you have 25% down payment money available, a credit score of 720+ and the time to close, you will be able to score a long term low interest rate loan that will allow for a positive cash flow on a large number of investment properties.