Happy New Year, everyone!
Getting right to the purpose of my post, with all the relevant context: I’m 52 and living near Seattle. I have a good FT job in education administration, but I want to retire asap, focusing ...

Have you looked into local credit unions or alternative financing programs?

Looking for something with low acquisition cost, and meets or exceeds the 1% rule.  

DSCR loans are based off of down payment, credit score and either actual or market rents so it helps to supercharge an investor's real estate goals and net worth.

They are a commodity, and owners are competing directly against hotels in this space, so rents are ultra low.

You typically will see small banks/credit unions probably wouldn't be able to out-of-state, but otherwise any mid-size company or larger should be able to.

Plus, if you aren't able to get approved with what you've got now in terms of savings, credit, etc. you can learn on what you need to qualify so you know what to be working towards. 

Bad customer service (from the partners), unprofessional client information management, ridiculously long underwriting, and I’ll add this..a low-key throwing of their loan officer under the bus for information “he did not know” or “must have been mistaken” about.

Most banks won't want to come in with a line of credit that is second lien on the property.

There are thousands of websites out there that are disguised as helping the public find the best of the best but at the end of the day its simply taking your info and selling it to a 3rd party as a lead.If you are trying to buy a home or an investment property and you have good to excellent credit you should always use an FDIC Bank or Credit Union.