Recommendations for financing first time out of state purchase?

[Chris Lopez]

Hey BP! I could use your advice! Just recently got a steady W2 job, good credit score in the 750+ range, a decent amount saved for a down payment and am currently living in the Bay Area (where the debt necessary to purchase a home is outside my comfort zone/doesn’t seem like a good choice at the moment). So, currently I’m evaluating my options for financing out-of-state investment properties. However, initial calls resulted in my credit being pulled only to be disappointed by the fact I didn’t meet certain criteria (3 lines of credit history for 1-year each, etc.). Yet I didn’t see this criteria when researching about the loans in question initially (most quotes/sites tend to avoid the discouraging stuff off the bat) and despite asking to be told some of the common criteria they look for their answers were along the lines of “we could talk all day about that or I can just check for you”. My question is: How can I avoid much of this back and forth (and credit pulls) in situations where I so obviously wouldn’t have qualified had they simply been more transparent, and/or do you have any loan/lender recommendations? I’ve read about portfolio loans, and small credit unions but I’m not too solid in my understanding of why their criteria tends to be more lenient than conventional investment home loans. Thanks in advance!