.- Hard money will do the loan but with rates at above 8% with sizeable origination fees and significant pre-payment penalties.I was hoping some of you seasoned folks could help me figure out some creative financing solutions for this little conundrum. :)

Be sure to pre-register for the meeting so you can attend your first one for free - otherwise its $25 at the door- or you can always join.

You have a pre-existing developed relationship with someone, that person might be willing to go the extra mile if you use that benefit sparingly.

We are planning on 'saving him' for when we might identify another porperty at say an auction where we need funds ASAP and can then refinance to pay it off.The other restrictions that I have found from the big national guys is that  they dont like to lend under 50K, require 30-40% or more down, dont like building pre 1950s or so, and dont like houses that have been converted to multifamily - they in essnece want a property that is easy to sell if they have to foreclose since that one property is their only recourse.Hope that helps a little. 

We are trying to think of some ways to target people who need to sell, but don't have the obvious characteristics that most investors target (run down exteriors, pre-foreclosures, etc). 

It would help you to have a pre-approval loan letter that you can submit with your offer.  

. - I originally went to the Fonville Morisey RE School in Durham (SouthPoint) for pre-licensing; and I completed my post-licensing at the Go School in Cary.

I'm only pre-approved for an FHA loan, so I have to follow a more conventional financing route.  

I assume you meant that you market to 'PRE-foreclosures'.  

I am about to start the process of shopping for conventional loan rates and getting pre-approved, but am concerned if I shop too much within a short time period it will adversely affect my credit score.Does every loan inquiry during the shopping process negatively affect your credit or is there a "grace" period after the first inquiry?