I have equity tied up in out-of-state rentals but barely have time to manage them. Has anyone moved into private lending and found a way to earn passive income without adding more work?

I am reaching out to the independent investors/private landlords in Wisconsin.
I am a 30-year veteran Multifamily Property Manager currently operating a standalone market-rate asset in Wisconsin. I spent my first 16 years in the industry working for the large, national and statewide Property Management organizations. However, back in 2012, I decided to refocus my career path away from the traditional, large corporate environment and more towards becoming a valuable commodity for a small family/independent investor who may own (or is interested in owning) a single site, market rate multifamily property in rural Wisconsin.
Over the past 14+ years at this single location, I have maintained total operational autonomy, high leasing velocity, and strict compliance with Wisconsin ATCP 134/Chapter 704 landlord-tenant laws. As a result, I and my maintenance staff have completely transformed this community into a financial gem that allows for little to no owner interaction and stress. However, due some familial and financial issues that were raised outside of this asset, the apartment community had been sold to a larger, corporate third-party management structure. This has completely disrupted our immense progress we have made over the years with regard to overall property appearance, resident satisfaction and retention, increased NOI, and so much more.
When I came to work (as an employee) for this private owner years ago, I truly thought this would be my final destination in my career path. However, these days I find myself looking to escape this corporate world once again and align my expertise directly with a private individual, a local family trust, or an independent commercial broker syndicate.

Now, typically, the ability (and need) to require and maintain a full time staff (Manager, Maintenance, and cleaning personnel) would entail a property in the range of approximately 120-150 units (give or take). Therefore, I am specifically seeking a private investor (or group of investors) who owns or is looking to acquire a property of this sort in rural Wisconsin, who would relish the opportunity to join forces with a seasoned industry professional that would bring decades of on-site operations expertise to their investment.

This truly becomes a win-win situation for both myself and the owner/investor. While returning myself to my intended direction of working for a private investor, my decades of industry operations experience and legal insight provides the ability to implement structured business practices that would typically only be available by hiring a costly management company. As mentioned earlier, I come from decades of working for the large apartment communities in major metropolitan markets, and therefore have the advantage of bringing proven business practices to your investment. If you are a private investor who fits this description, please message me privately, as I would like to keep this conversation confidential (for obvious reasons), so that we can discuss further.

Lately, I’ve been thinking more about why investors walk away from deals.

A property can clear your initial financial requirements and still leave you uncomfortable. Why is this? Maybe the assumptions require everything to go right. Maybe the location is more dependent on one employer or economic driver than you initially realized. Maybe the renovation or development has too many variables to price accurately.

For me, the important question isn't simply whether the projected return works. It's how many things have to cooperate for that return to happen.

I try to pay particular attention when several optimistic assumptions depend on one another. If rents need to rise, construction needs to stay on budget, financing needs to remain available, and the eventual exit needs to happen at an aggressive valuation, the spreadsheet may show an attractive return while the margin for error is actually quite small.

I’m not trying to suggest this automatically makes it a bad investment. Higher-risk opportunities can be appropriate at the right price. But I want to understand where the risk comes from rather than letting a projected return hide it.

I've definitely passed on opportunities that looked pretty attractive simply because I couldn't get comfortable with the number of assumptions required.

For other real estate investors, what's the factor most likely to make you walk away even after a deal initially pencils out?

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I have a multi family duplex I bout In 2021 it cash flows about 1k a month with an fha loan at 2.5 interest (I live in the basement)

The property is about 570 and I brought it for 360 loan is at 328

I want to pull money out but need guidance on how to.
Should I do a heloc and heloan because refinancing is out of the question

The only thing really stopping me is I had 2 loan modifications and recently just caught up last month even though I only missed 2 payments almost a year ago and just now caught up.

Any advice? Do I have to wait my credit is at around 650-680 and I do plan on getting a co borrower