Great deal from a friend but can't find a loan anywhere

[John Edwards]

Earlier this year I saved the life of an old friend who has five homes both here in the US and the Philippines. He and his wife feel very strongly about selling me a vacant home of theirs I've considered buying in the past. The property has an estimated FMV of 365K and they are willing to sell to me for 225. But my income and credit are shaky after the events of 2020 ravaged my small business. I'd like to move into the home, extracting equity at the sale, spending a modest some on renovation (less than 20K), and use the remaining capital to invest in other BRRR ventures.

Because I have shaky credit (no late payments or defaults, but debt-to-income that's too high with 30% credit utilization), I cannot get anyone to offer me a loan. I tried a broker for FHA 203k and various local hard money lenders but everyone wants the same terms as the banks: credit score over 700, 25% down!

I have 40 grand in cash but am trying to obtain an 85% LTV with a 10% (or less) down payment. Can anyone offer any good ideas?