Beginning Traditional Financing

[Andrew Jolly]

I have been in the process of purchasing my first long term buy and hold rental. I've spent the last month or two talking with a certain lender that I saw long term relationship with. After a lot of back and forth, he pretty much told me that the bank would not be able to loan to me. This was pretty frustrating considering the time I spent and the fact that they pulled my credit twice, dropping my credit score 40 points. 

In this situation should I continue to talk to other banks, or hold off for a bit and let my credit score bounce back?

I already have a property secured (I am buying it from my mom), so time isn't my first issue, but I don't want to wait 6 months to get into a deal. I have also considered owner financing, but that is not something my mom wants to do.

I have enough money to do a 10-20% down payment on both the purchase and construction loan. but was hoping to do a low money down option (3.5% FHA). I would like to stick with traditional financing until I can get my foot in the door and get a feel for the real estate arena.