etc..If you are looking to leverage debt and come in w/ little to no money down (VA), I'd recommend owner occupying / house hacking / whatever you want to call it and depending on if you're looking at an SFR or duplex an FHA or conventional loan product will most likely work best. 

Is this a Conventional loan or a non-QM loan?

I am a huge DIYer and so far - Laid the vinyl flooring 1500sqft- Installed Recess lights (40 lights)- Built a retaining wall (35ft)- Built a pergola from ground up- Interior paint (appro 2500 sqft)- Built a wooden board-on-board fence (75ft)also, a software engineer (nerd 😊) I am 38yrs old and have some milage to do DIY to buy a partially run-down property and upgrade it.Looking forward to learning new things from the members and seek advice.

We are doing this with a portfolio lender and paying a bit of an interest rate premium as we are over the limit for Conventional financing. 

Regarding credit, per mortgage qualification, you need a score over 620 (conventional) or 580 (fha).

The question is, should we try to move it to a conventional loan once we're able to (seasoning period and such), or keep it with the bank? 

We used hard money for the loan with interest only payments for six months, which we will then refi into a conventional commercial loan. 50/50 with a partner each of us invested 42500 for a total of 85k.

The 90% first was financed conventionally. 

I currently own a townhouse that I bought 2 years ago (just under my name) using a 30 year conventional loan.

Unknown duration of return.Not sure how many conventional banks/mortgage companies or lenders will consider such a customer.