I ended up going with someone else because of it.A quality lender simply would not do that.. if you got a bad feeling then that's fine too its your deal your choice  = 

He wasn’t my first choice, but a “convenient” situation caused me to select him.

I also have the option to partner (silent) in with someone who is willing to invest up to $100k for 50% of the deal which will basically just buy me the property, but i'd still have to come out of pocket for the reno.Not sure if either sound appealing and wondering if anyone has a recommendation which might be the better choice if any at all.Many thanks

Good luck with your choice on FHA vs.

It's a personal choice.

Not really my first choice, but it's an option on the table. 

My basic advice is to pick a strategy and ignore all the many other real estate investing possibilities for a while until you have worked your strategy of choice successfully for a while.If you want to do flips, do you really feel you have the will to do that?

@Greg GerkenSquarespace is the simplest choice.

Even though I am a landlord I am also a renter (by choice - I would rather own what I can rent out), so if I saw an ad that like that I probably would not even bother with it unless I had few other options for places to live in. 

Make it a part of your daily ritual that it is not a choice but a way of life.I have  a goal over my lifetime to read 1,000,000 pages of material on various aspects of life.