Brandon;I’m working a few properties with this issue;1st property is a flip, FEMA came in a few years ago and put a blanket over the whole town, it is up to the individual to prove that your property does not require flood insurance, this is accomplished buy finding and hiring a surveyor who knows how to do a proper evaluation of the property in regards to FEMA, also the surveyor must also know how to push the paper work through to get the certificate that says no flood insurance required, this cost me $300, Worked out great.2nd property new construction,Same surveyor shots the elevation then can recommend a fix, meaning what can be done to either bring the land up, develop the house to conform so no flood insurance will be required, would be a good idea to understand rural development loaning rules and other home lending programs on homes in such situations, why you ask?

Get the home inspector, talk to a property manager (to verify your costs and rent assumptions for the future when you need to hire someone else), check the County records to make sure you don't have any permit or conformance issues, etc.  

I suggest you copy this thread and take it to your attorney, he/she may want to modify aspects of all this to conform with their advice, but this will keep you in a position of dealing as individuals, not as a business or as a broker.

Shay, the problem is the lender wants to make sure you qualify for the conforming mortgage after you get the house rehabbed and rented, so you have an 'exit plan' for getting out of the hard money loan.You will have to focus on getting your financials in order so that you qualify for a conventional loan,,,then you can get the hard money loan.I have heard of people getting loans in a business name, or credit cards, which will be personally guaranteed by you, but don't show up on your credit report, thus don't show up when they figure your debt to income,,,,but that is really just a trick to temporarily help you get a loan,,,the main goal i getting your DTI in order

. :)If you open the conversation with guru investor lingo, they may not get excited.Thinking about it, that might be why so many ask for "investor friendly" title companies, simply because investors aren't speaking in the conforming language of title folks.

@Ethan Edwards some basic information here in case it is helpful to you:In the lending world there are basically 2 types of loans for these properties - "Conforming" loans or "Portfolio" Loans.A "Conforming" loan is a loan governed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (if you recognize those names). 

Consider Nolo.com as an alternative.Having said this, there's much more to conforming with fair housing laws and keeping yourself out of court than just using the right forms.

@Corina Eufinger Is it normally best to call local banks with say less than 10 branches to find in-house lenders that don't have to conform to Fannie/Freddie?

Rates are fairly the same where the only real difference is conforming loans you can put much much less down versus non conforming and commercial they do 25 amortization with a 5 year balloon typically.

All the information below is based only on conforming properties.Rental ratesRental rates started climbing in mid 2014 after a long flat period.