Hey Ben, we closed about 4 weeks ago- been doing cosmetic updates every weekend since then and should be ready for our first rental in October!

@Nathan FrostThe advantage - some will do 90% and 100% construction but recognize your signing a personal guarantee and will be paying 10-12%+ for interestBenefits of a private lender are speed to close, creativity in cross collateralizing etcThere are a lot of people on BP that think oh private lending is less strict than banks and easier to get.

- Will your net worth growth from tax advantages, annual property appreciation, debt paydown, etc. be worth the upfront investment (i.e. down payment, closing costs, moving costs, renovation expenses, etc.)?

Often, I have borrowers make an LLC during underwriting so they can protect themselves post-closing. 

We just put an offer in on a riverfront one bedroom cottage on a half acre property in Oregon that we expect to be accepted, here's how I plan on purchasing the property with less than the cost of an apartment rental deposit in SoCal:Purchase price is $330k as a FHA Primary Purchase with 3.5% down ($11,550) and a 2.5% ($8250) seller concession towards closing costs.

Is there a way around this besides double closing or off market?

Your best bet may to be to look for a HELOC or Closed End Second Lien on that property to take out some equity

And only 1 of them is of a known brand (American Standard) and it's close to $700 and has a 1.28 GPF rate, which I don't like - prefer 1.6.  

It's a home run, but our window to close has been wasted by being strung along by US Bank. 

In this county there was only 1 McDonalds that close and it closed to move a block away at a traffic light, from there former location in the middle of the block not at a traffic signal.