No pitch book but, get ready to send docs to verify your experience and credit worthiness. 

I think you would be able to find a loan if you have history/a signed offer from a company the bank finds creditworthy.  

They are pretty real estate friendly these days, as long as you are credit worthy borrower.

Hi @Mecca Walker and welcome to BP.There isn't anything wrong with the plan overview you have, but its going to be highly dependent on the property you purchase and what financing you can obtain based on your credit worthiness.

So, a lot of it has to do with timing.It's not easy to get financing for an empty property that you are going to occupy unless you have 25% to 30% down payment and the credit worthiness to carry the loan.As an owner occupant, that allows you to get an FHA loan for up to 1-4 family properties.

With that perspective, you should gain insight to entity credit worthiness.

Partner with them and offer them solid equity in a deal say ~70% in exchange for their credit worthiness.

@Jacqueline Cayasso - The lender will approve you based on your creditworthiness (income, debt, credit score, ratios etc).

What are the key challenges in growing a mortgage finance operation beyond finding credit worthy borrowers, complying with state and federal regulations and evaluating the quality of collateral to lend against?

I'm definitely staying away from the cheaper older homes/duplexes, mostly to avoid the less credit worthy tenants, they are much harder to deal with even with diligent screening.