I am brand new to all of this and have not completed my first deal.

works in any market.continuing to learn about creative financing is fine, but i personally think it's at least an intermediate, if not advanced, real estate strategy, for a fairly well capitalized investor.i have purchased a couple of deals on seller finance, i am just not interested in sub-to. 

If he has been in the trades for a couple decades he'll be fine I think...those Contr. schools are pretty good too, especially for the Law part of the exam..... 

I have my first property under contract and my loan officer has been working with me for a couple weeks. 

There is literally no reason for it unless you want to be a part of a cult and use their name (instead of establishing your name and brand) to get into door. 

--> The building construction is brand new vs something at least 25 years old in the city.

I am brand new to the real estate investing world and discovered this amazing community when I figured out I was wasting my full potential with my 9-5 w2 and knew I wanted more!

I’ve also seen a couple of 60k-70k MHs that’s pre-1976 in my area which has been sitting for a few months.

Yes please send a couple you recommend in the area. 

Qualifying for the lowest rate possible and putting a large down payment are a couple of ways to navigate the potential ratio issue and get closer to the number you need to make it work.