Would it be better to do a shorter term loan amortized over a longer period?

Yes, you can rent rooms or rent the property after the occupancy period, but you can't have more than one FHA loan or use them for pure investment from day one.

Pete Bhanshali, We don't want it under our name, not even for 2 minutes just to start with, because in the event we get sued, the court will look back for a 2 year period to see what name was on the property before it went into the LLC, and if that person looks like they have assets worth going after, they will (from what we've researched). 

@Jarvis Brown another option is to use Hard Money to buy a rehab, fix it up, and cash-out refinance after the seasoning period into a commercial loan product.

I assume closing cannot be extended? 

My question is should I allowed to extend one more day?

currently HELOC rate is at 3.00%, down from 3.99% a month ago when the 6 month initial lock ended (i have over 9 years left on my draw period). now the rate is variable. the bank is hinting that the rate on the mortgage will be around 3.5% fixed. i don't qualify for traditional mortgage on my dti (but i do double my income with overtime and bonuses, and my wife will have a new income as well once we relocate) so our family friend is cosigning on the mortgage with me. the bank is writing it internally at 15yr with a choice between amortized or balloon. the building will need a new roof in about 5 years, and leaving $35k in the HELOC for that would keep me happy, so i'm willing to go up to $100k down payment if it makes sense. that would change my loan to $179k from $223,200, but also would tap any funds i might have for improving the property other than the roof, like fencing in the backyard and converting the third floor to its own unit. the new rubber roof would be more like $20-$25k but i like to be conservative. i have heard of people using their heloc to pay down their mortgage principal, which i could also do, but it seems to be a gimmick, and even if not may it be easier to just get a smaller loan amount to start?

My recommendation is to just save the money you would spend on extended warranty coverage and apply it to hiring a professional service company that you researched and vetted yourself, once you need a repair done.Hope this helps.Ken

I have used lines of credit as down payments on properties before, and I also have used lines of credit many times to help me through periods of construction where costs over ran.

Most HELOCS have an interest only period in the beginning.