Lenders get paid to get you to the closing table, not to try. 

I just don't want to buy that close to the water due to flooding concerns.  

Ultimately, shared laundry works just fine in our multi's - sometimes you just have no choice.2.

If you don't get access to the property before closing it can be tricky but if there are recent photos online or you can walk through before and take your own then it is much easier.

Quote from @Brad Roche: The other thing that is great for the FHA 203K loan (not sure about the Homestyle loan) is that you can kick the payments out to 6 months of ownership (so close today and make your first payment July 12th 2025) if you are fixing up the home.

@Russell Brazil He closed his account, cause he needs to eat a lot of crow.   

Id keep looking if it was not an approved short sale ( even an approved short sale takes a very very long time and theres no guarantee that you will even close on the house after months of waiting). q1)There are plenty of non traditional lenders that could offer you construction financing if the numbers make sense but it will cost you with points and a higher rate.

To rent the home, I would lose about $2,500 per month (based on comparable rents in my area, property management fees, etc).Both options loose the same amount by roughly 2 years, and by this time, I still will not have built up much more equity in the home to make selling it a break even unless there is price appreciation by then.My dilemma is this: I speculate that my home will not appreciate much in the next 3-5 years due to the rapid pace of development in the surrounding area.In 5-10+ years, maybe, but by then I'll have bled $150,000 - $300,000.I have thought about this a lot and feel that I mar'-too close to the problem to see the best solution.

With that said, a lot of people take the cost-benefit, but no one can argue it's a smart choice, just a frugal one.

Quote from @Allison Littman: I am currently trying to close on a church in Nashville (residential R6-A zoning) and convert it into my primary residence.