There are cheap options but they take more time and effort and are probably only worth it if something else is extending the timeline. 

Everyone's waiting for interest rates to fall but not sure if that's going to happen now.

.- Neighborhood ~ C- but a C- area here doesn't mean too much, smallish town ~ only about 50k peoplePurchase Price: $660,000Appraised Value at Purchase: $730,000Interest Rate: 6.625% - 30 year fixedDown Payment: 10% / $66,000Cost to Make Rent Ready: $14,000P&I - $3803 T&I - $898Total PITI - $4701/moCapEx, Vacancy, Maintenance - $1099/moTotal Monthly Costs - $5800/moCurrent Rents - $3800 (3 units)Fair Rents ~ $5000 but will likely only charge ~ $4500 to start.

Rates and terms are better especially if you have less than optimal credit..

Feels like this buyer pool dried up recently with the interest rates rising?

Even with the 90% LTC, I still needed to come up with nearly 20k to get into a 75k property after fees and insurance and all that junk, plus since the rehab draws are reimbursements, I needed to come up with the initial 10k for the first draw myself, so that's 30k of liquidity needed for a relatively cheap property. 

And be care of taking advice from someone who has something to gain from you.I don’t understand how you can run any numbers if the occupation rate is a big unknown.

If you are buying it as an investment property, you are buying it at a much higher rate than a traditional owner-occupied loan so you must be in a primary residence now and are just planning a just-in-case scenario.At first, I thought this was a no-brainer answer as if you can do whatever you want, but those investment loans are banking on the income projected as part of the collateral for the loan so it's a good question.A seasoned lender or someone who has had to move back into one of their properties will get you the best answer.

Not a "hey let's read everything" journey, no, pick a strategy, get THAT highly rated "how-to" book. 

The only advice anyone could give you is to stop doing whatever it is that you are doing that is hurting your credit rating.