Some could have restrictions if you want to live in the same general area, as they're probably more in the business of making long term loans, vs shorter term loans.Remember also if you want to buy two, the 1st one as owner occupied you might get away with 3-5% down conventional, but on the investment property they might want you to put down 25%. 

There is nothing special about either group that takes them longer or shorter time to reply. 

To compete for deals, in many cases, buyers have to offer shorter timelines to close.

Cash-out refinance cons: you are extending the life of your mortgage, in your situation your rate will go up, and depending on your loan type your max cash out may be capped at 75-80% LTVHELOC pros: closing costs tend to be slightly lower, you may be able to get a tax break depending on what you use it for, allows you to maintain your current interest rate, and you can borrow up to 85% LTVHELOC cons: interest rates tend to be higher than a refi, usually come with a much shorter term (5-10 years), you will be making two payments on your house vs. one, and your monthly payment may vary.If you PM me I'm happy to chat further or plug numbers into my system for you :)Best of luck!

He was able to do a 17 day close on a VA loan, which is very competitive and a much shorter close than most lenders can provide.

Rate quotes based on a shorter term like a 5 day or 10 day lock are teaser rate quotes.

Or using a commercial lender who won’t need the seasoning, but will expect other requirements including shorter loan terms and potentially higher rates.

I've tried various things: shorter inspection time period (typically it's 10 days here, and if you do a 3 or 5 day inspection time you can be attractive b/c the seller can get it back on market quicker if you find something you don't like during inspection period); non-refundable earnest money (maybe $1000 of money that you will not get back for any reason on your side - not if the seller breaches-- should the offer not go to completion - this shows you are an extremely interested buyer, but you could lose the money, so use cautiously and with the advice of your agent who knows how to correctly write that into the contract); put a limit on the repair request no required by lender - cap it at $0/as-is, or $500; a higher earnest money - like $5000, shows you are serious.

In most cases that I can think of a retail tenant makes up a larger portion of the total building rent.Leases are shorter, so I can capture additional revenue when rents rise.Everyone needs a place to live, but not everyone needs to go to a retail store any more.When times get tough, like during a pandemic, is the government more likely to help people or stores pay their rent?

@Andrew Kiefer Unless you plan on living there, all the construction loans will be commercial loans at first.  2-4 unit building can be refinanced (paying off the short term construction loan) into 30 year investor residential mortgages (better rates and terms), with 5+ unit full commercial loans when refinanced (higher rates, shorter terms).I would focus on rental properties.