We have sold a couple that have successful tenant placements.

If you plan on buying these properties using a mortgage its also best to begin the pre approval process and work with an investor friendly lender to help guide and educate you what the best product might be for your projects to make sure you dont already max out your borrowing power after the first deal.

@Vernon Welch II most tenants offering to pay their rent upfront are trying to compensate for negative qualification issues.NEVER override your screening process just because someone offers to pay several months upfront!

I planned to do a piggyback HELOC to have access to quick capital in case a good next deal came along but it has been a long drawn out process and right at closing they decided they needed a new appraisal.

Is it still possible to snag a reasonably successful house hack in these areas?

Your informative account has helped fill-in a few progress blocks in my own process. 

You tied up 70k and a minimum of 6 months just to go through this process. 

No question is ever too small or “stupid” here—curiosity and determination are key to success in this business.

I have never seen a hard money loan take 8-10 weeks to process. 

However, I have helped a couple people with extremely basic home layouts when they were in the process of remodeling their home.