Personally we can start before the 6 month date but I have heard multiple customers tell me other lenders have said they cannot start the application until the 6 month date. 

My recommendation is to figure out what's most important to you as a customer.

It's far easier to get repeat business from a prior customer than new business from a stranger.

This is going to sound sacrilege but I think you should get a W-2 job in real estate based on your end game of wanting to be a developer I would look to work for developers, custom builders, surveyors etc.

I built high-end custom modular (e.g. stick built in a factory and shipped) for a significantly cheaper cost per sq foot than it would have cost to build with a local builder.

I have built around  20 homes in the past 2 years all with the exact home plan and  I been doing spec and custom homes my entire life.

What region of NY state are you in and who are your usual customers? 

i hear hostaway works good. i just manage my own on 2 OTA platforms. pretty much all is streamlined on there. just have to keep up responsiveness and price optimization. but you could always hire out to a co-host if that would be worth your time. 

These markets have been great for our customers.  

For me - I must have value add - whether that means expansion, increasing rates, occupancy %, moving to automation and managing remotely etc - there needs to be a for sure way I can add value and streamline operations.