Having a list of questions in mind that will generate an apples-to-apples comparison between lenders can be helpful.Some of the items that you will want to evaluate when speaking with different lenders to see which one’s terms fit you best are,Loan amount: What will the loan amount be?

He went as far as asking what I did with the money I received after my moms death a year prior to me appling for the loan and he e-mail a friend of mine that I had loaned money to years ago and wanted to know what he did with that money.

@Bryce Davis you may be mixing apples and oranges.  

I like the idea but live 10mn from my job in apple valley and moving into the cities would at least triple my commute.

So while the original question seems to have been answered way better than I ever could, I am still a firm believer in "finding your why", (a la Apple Computers) and then relentlessly honing your edge.  

@Tom V. you are comparing apples and oranges.  

Apple, for example, was still hiring for iPhone development then.  

Value is $1.1m so I'll get an $880k loan which means in it for less than $0 and cash flow.I realize this is apples to apples, but if you can use your FHA to get low down payment or even help with fixing up, I'd go as big as possible.   

You should end up with something like this, allowing you for an apple-to-apple comparisson: image.

@Patrick Menefee Comparing unrealized gains ($50K in equity) to realized gains ($25.5K in your pocket after taxes) is not apples to apples.