I've closed loans after 90 days before.4) The Lending terms is not where you will win or lose Caleb and whoever else is out there wanting to start out and are a little tentative and nervous and unsure. 

instead of a lender try to find a capital partner and share the deals.. thats what I do provide money for JV's  works great its a win win.. your going to waste your time trying to find nothing down lenders.. unless you already have one that really loves you then its possible.

I feel like they play by more subtle or more aggressive rules that I don't understand quite as easily as simpler markets like Denver and even places like San Francisco.

You could easily get 75-80% LTC on the cabin build meaning you'd need about $200,000-$250,000 CASH, to complete the project.Take 200k out of the FL house, build, rent, refi & payoff the FL property again would be my best bet about going about it.

Example, you probably think winning a bidding war or getting a property 5% under "market value" is a great deal.

seems to me folks can just share in the success stories threads thats where you go to talk about your wins and let folks know what your up to..

Usually I win ... but he says he use to figure, 'I don't really like the deal but if the bank underwriters will go for it...

Using 30% to 40% is aggressive enough to win an offer especially if you can close less than 30 days.

Have supplied washer/dryer if kicking that in is all it takes to win what I think is a solid tenant.  

I would also recommend doing your due diligence on the new lender, and make sure they are not just a salesy loan officer trying to win you over with term sheets that don't exist...