Buyer agrees to an assignment of this contract to TowneBank, a qualified Intermediary of the Seller.

Do you still need to use a third party Qualified Intermediary ?  

On the flip side, another client of mine used the premium option and got a highly qualified tenant almost immediately.

Thank you everyone @Ashish Acharya @John Bowens   @Gino Barbaro  @Jacqueline WrightWe'll be staying out of our Traditional and Roth IRAs then for this.And we aren't ready for and aren't qualified for a self directed IRA at this time, so we'll not go that route.The loan out of the 401K is interesting. 

Additionally, you'll have business income showing up and might qualify for some business lines of credit to tap into as well.

Curious if anyone has had success (or failure) qualifying for RE Professional status with an STR, even if not self managing?

Down payment can be higher than primary, but the good thing is that you won't need that much income to qualify because lenders can you 75% of the market rents for the units of the property.

Can I qualify as a First Time Home Buyer and utilize FHA or similar programs?

Beyond the formal checklists: no evictions, 3-4x income to rent, prior landlord references, employment checks; I would also look at things like responsiveness to communication when we are setting showing, were they on time to showing, did they look me in the eye and shake my hand, did they show up to showing high?

Both side said that my DTI was too high and I wasn't qualify to borrow.