Private lenders are generally much more nimble and have a faster approval process than banks.2.

I know it sounds Easy but here are a few things you SHOULD have ready to Buy.....Pre-Approval letters (More than one, Just in case)A Healthy Savings Account( There will be Fees and there will be Home repairs after the purchase)A Good Local Realtor that Understands and Knows your Needs. ( Realtors like local Realtors, It's Good Business)Run your Numbers!!!

The buyer has been approved for new loan but will not have down payment due to needing funds from the sale of current home.

Matthew, I would reach out to a FHA lender in your area and ask if they would be able to approve you. 

Since I will need to finance my first deal how do I know how much to ask for in financing to get pre-approved if I don't know how much the property will cost since I haven't found it yet?

She does not have approval for any pets, paid no pet deposit and certainly we could not approve a pit bull.    

We got approved for a conventional loan but don't have the 20% down we need for an investment property.

also if you get over 100 investors no matter how small and you have compliant audited financials for shareholders as required you can elect to become a REIT then you qualified to have people invest 401 K money from approved Banks and Credit Unions Retirement accounts.

I was surprised as well when the house was approved for an FHA loan.

The difficulties of that are the logistics of the transactions, the waiting period for the home being built and our ability to get approved for such a large investment.