Advice for alternate since 203k /Homestyle loans are suspended

[Ken M Middleton]

Hey all... first-time poster here.

My wife and I have been researching investing in our first property and were interested in doing a 203k/BRRRR combo with a SFR or duplex. The plan was to use the loan to buy something in the 50k-100k range, include 25-50k in rehab cost, and then refinance it at a value that would allow us to meet the 75% minimum threshold and pull out our initial cash investment (and maybe more if possible) for another property.

Now that all rehab loans are suspended, we are looking for other ways to finance the rehab while still using an FHA loan, so we would only have to put down 3.5% again.

We were thinking of going the hard money route or even using credit cards to finance it, but our fear is that if the market doesn't continue to appreciate, we would be stuck with the extra bills if we are not able to refinance it to pay it off after the seasoning period.

Any advice on this scenario?