This is required with traditional loans.

WE did a traditional house purchase with a conventional mortgage from a local bank. 

Yes hard money has been traditionally had an image of taking care of those "hard to do loans" but their is also a boundary we face.  

I plan on hitting the ground after the first of the year and I am committed to making this work no matter what.I am honest and hardworking, so if anyone wants to approach me with some get rich quick idea or ways to screw people out of their homes, move on.Anyone in the area, feel free to reach out to me anytime.

It seems like if you are doing traditional residential loans that there isn't much point in building those relationships.

Aside from traditional lender financing, I'd like to make sure I've explored options to put less money down than 20% and potentially find a better rate than at a local/commercial bank.  

I finished the Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing and I am currently reading Flip and Rich Dad Poor Dad and the BP guide to deal analysis.  

Imagine asking a real estate agent to only accept a 1% commission because you'd like to pay less and have more equity in the house ;) Both turnkey and traditional methods are great, but for different reasons.

Ive reached a point in my life where Ive realized a dependancy on a traditional income is not the route I would like to take.The more I study real estate the more intrigued I become.

The NEW lease-option design...As I understand it, one of the requirements of the new Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, birthed from the Dodd-Frank legislation, is that ANY lender in an installment sale has to verify that the borrower is capable of repaying the loan, just like a traditional mortgage lender must.