You contracted there home to purchase it without the willingness or ability to close on it and then you tried selling your contract to a party who also did not have the ways or means to fund it (or is very savvy, saw you are not and delayed on purpose to cut you out of your wholesale commission).

What continues to draw me to direct mail is the ability to limit competition.

Too bad she'll also strip us of our ability to count depreciation against income and uhh, I don't bankrupt the country even faster than it's already being bankrupted

It does come down to your goals, your time to allocate, your business sense, your ability to bring or raise capital, and what you are trying to accomplish.I am personally not a fan of short term rentals, as it appears regulations in many cities keep making it harder.

Build the broadest ranges of skills, knowledge, attitude and abilities and become business lethal.  

Last I checked FTHB's have ability up the ying-yang to buy a home for way less than $25k down, and the down seems to next to never be the issue, it's the PAYMENT vs INCOME, the DTI, loan servicing...... $25k down does diddly-squat for that except in the handful of markets where one can buy a house for the cost of a garage in most other markets.

All four of the options you outline I believe work in today's market and with the ability to refinance after a rehab, you may be able to break even or cash flow with an improved equity position. 

BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us.

Following up, will this affect my ability to re-fi or do a HELOC/Cash-out re-fi?

In fact, only around 13% of U.S. veterans have taken advantage of the VA Home Loan, which is surprising given its incredible perks—like the ability to buy multifamily properties, no down payment, competitive interest rates, and lower insurance rates compared to FHA loans.