Beach Condo Financing?

[David Lowe]

I have been doing the single-family thing for a while and am looking to branch out. I found a condo near the beach outside Charleston that I am interested. Ran the numbers, checked comps, talked to the condo's HOA committee, went through the property my realtor and it appears to be a decent investment. I called my lender to get a pre-qualification letter (I have worked with him for years) and he said that there is some restriction on condos that is preventing me from getting a traditional mortgage. I haven't invested in condos before and didn't really understand the problem, but he said it was a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac rule. It was something about it not technically being a "second home" because I live less than 50 miles from the property and because the renters would be short term vacation renters with leases less than 1 year. I have started talking with commercial lenders to compare terms and rates and see if the property still cash flows. Can anyone shed some light on what requirements/restrictions may be placed on financing a condo as an investment property (I don't intend to use it for personal use...unless, of course, that helps me close the deal :-) ). Do you have any suggestions of other creative financing I should consider?