Welcome @Gregory Press.

Maybe my short story was actually kind of long...sorry for the novel.Anyways - my point is, it's really up to you if you want to pursue it or not and I'm guessing it's unlikely your landlord wants to deal with the issue if it's relatively small money for him/her.Very unlikely you're going to get your money back unless press forward with legal action or the threat of legal action.  

I know a deal will come if I keep pressing forward, ramp up my marketing, and keep making offers!!

If the car deal was before applying for the loan, they and you can chalk it up to stupidity.You'll be hard pressed showing that making repairs or improvements are a loss to you, you'll still benefit. :)

Im guessing due to the price points youve mentioned, they may have no affect as you may not be pressing up against them.

If the amortization or low downpayment is what is driving you towards the SBA loan, if your downpayment is under 20% it may be the only loan option, then you would be pressed to find a similar loan.

If however, you don't have any other retirement savings, I would be hard pressed to suggest you risk your homes equity on something you are a complete newbie at.

Here is the link for an Associated Press Article I found on the FAR site.

You'll be hard-pressed to do a conventional refi for more than 75% of the purchase price until you've owned the property for at least a year, so that's probably not your best solution.Small banks often make their own loans, which means they can define the terms and the underwriting standards, and they will sometimes do a refi up to 75% of the purchase + rehab costs.But, until you've held the property for at least 6-12 months, you won't be able to refi based on a new appraisal, either conventional or with a small bank (at least not any small bank I know of).As for whether you should get an owner occupied or investor loan, if you're going with a small bank, you'll probably have to get an investor loan (and they may require the loan in a company name with personal guarantees); if you're going to go the conventional or FHA route, you probably can't legally get an OO loan if you'll be occupying for less than a year, so you'll have to go investor that was as well.

This is in large part due to there is usually a pressing need for the loan.