Quote from @Hunter Hanlon Taylor: I ended up using The Mortgage Shop, LLC! 

I was hoping to get more questions answered about the loan itself and what I should be doing in the meantime, when I can start shopping for houses, etc. 

I would go read "The Short Term Shop" by Avery Carl - well worth the $10 or $20 whatever it is. 

Here’s some helpful info we picked up along the way.If you want to live close to Uptown – maybe because you work there or love having lots of options for dining, bars, coffee shops, and more – consider areas like NoDa, Plaza Midwood, South End, Villa Heights, and Optimist Park.

We don't currently have a PMS but would likely shop for one if we buy a web site.

There is nothing that prevents you from shopping around early to see what's out there.

I want to use her equity as a gift for the down payment to avoid capital gain taxes.

We bought the property seller-financed with power, a small bathroom/laundry building, a 40x60 metal shop building, an RV pad with 'full hookups' (power, water, septic) and not much else.  

In fact many properties being shopped around by wholesalers are actually just expired MLS listings (properties that failed to sell on the MLS) or active MLS listings under contract by a wholesaler. 

We are fortunate to be getting 20% gifted to us.