The VA is a meticulous about the condition of the property as well, so make sure it meets livability standards. 

I wanted to avoid shady characters and losses while trying to build a rental portfolio that was rehabbed to a good standard and didn't have much maintenance issues.4.

They handle his 150ish doors, and he has high standards.

Originally posted by @George Despotopoulos:Short term is usually referred to as hard money or bridge loans. 3-6 months is pretty short, standard is 12 months.

Secondly a 7% rate with 1-2 points depending on LTV, FICO, DSCR, and prepayment penalty does sound fair/market standard.

Also, have you made any significant alterations to the property or if it were put on the market today, would it be indistinguishable from a standard 4-bedoom house (are there any extra walls for the SRO, constructed locks/barriers etc.)If its a standard SFR and the leases are very short term - there is a path that you could refinance this with a DSCR as basically a Short Term Rental and then potentially change strategic course back to SRO if needed at a later date

If you have enough unit it will make sense to have cleaner on your payroll but to starting off, most common sense is to find a very high quality, reliable cleaner that works with your budget.

Just trying to wrap my head around the differences of if we got a standard mortgage up front vs. private equity and then paying that off by getting a conventional mortgage after seasoning. 

You all went CHEAP and have hopefully learned a lesson:)Area where I was vetting them the prices were standard 10% monthly rent with $75 min and 50% first month rent.  

Standard PPL (Pay Per Lead) companies will sell them between $150 - $750 a pop.2.