You may be able to secure higher leverage financing through alternative lenders than a traditional bank (not always the case) and this may help advance your objective of reducing the down payment/cash requirement but that may only be temporary relief as you will likely pay more over the course of the loan because of higher rates and fees.

I would say 90 percent of all homes in the outer banks are in a str program of some sort.

Anyone anyone buying these is a commercially minded buyer and has a clear requirement for cashflow.Sidenote, while banks and realtors consider residential 1-4 units, the county only sees residential as 1-3 units.

DM with questions, our bank originates these loans.  

Ali,If you want to learn some of the tips and loopholes on the finance or banking side feel free to reach out or send me an email. 

We used a HELOC from First Bank and they were great to work with in getting us a HELOC at a great rate. 

Ive seen many attempt to DIY on their own form a distance and fail.  

Banks even today are 7 to 8 I only use banks.

There is always a chance that rates will drop, but I would imagine $25K would buy down the annual rate so significantly that you would never see a lower rate offered by a bank so you wouldn't even think about refinancing.

It would be great if there was a way to find out which banks offered the Vendee loan so we could target them a little better.