Caught the flag on the first sentence "given the loan terms verbally" - Pretty much all the "reputable" DSCR Lenders will give out a detailed term sheet / pre-approval letter / LOI (many different names but same thing) outlining terms and approvals early on in the process - the good news is that if you haven't closed yet you can still switch lenders and see if you can secure your original terms - also good news is that the appraisal, while likely ordered by the lender or broker is in your name and your property, so you can likely transfer it to the new lender

I do plan on incorporating the House Hacking strategy into my plan as a starting point.

In your situation, when the time comes you think you are ready to purchase, go to your local bank and tell them you want to get pre-qualified.

Buy BP's books on creative financing, zero down, subject to,  pre-forclosure, even short sales.   

In some markets you could do 250k pre tax off 1 flip, others will require a higher volume of flips.

There was a pre-move out inspection where everything was determined to be in good condition and there were no deductions that would be made.

Getting pre-approved gives you a serious edge in securing deals faster.

I don't personally know anyone who signed up for the training from either TT or the attorney, so I can't speak to that.My suggestion would be that if you don't have any real estate specific education, take the real estate pre-licensing classes in your state. 

With that said, there have been more realistic seller expectations to the tune of significantly reduced purchase prices both pre and post executed agreements.

So if you could gc them yourself, you could force some equity on the new construction deals and the new construction ones might be a no brainer.The other question I'd have is whether you're getting deals on the pre-existing homes.Ultimately, its going to be real tough to scale either one if you're paying retail because if you're buying 250k homes and putting down 20 to 25%, you'll run out of cash real quick.