Also, would like to meet a group of like minded individuals in the area.

I'd love to join the group if there is an online presence and come to a meeting when I'm in town. 

Your other option is some of the Alternative Non-QM lending programs that are out there, there are several that take the Rent Debt Coverage Ratio to determine the income or debt ratio instead of the borrowers personal income, most of these only have a 6 month ownership seasoning to use existing value, one company that has this program is Impac Mortgage, they have their credit matrix online to view at "http://impacmortgage.com/media/forms/iQM-Investor-...

Luckily that individual only put their own money at risk instead of a clients. 

You can also check their reviews online at Google, Facebook, or Yelp.

Online CD one can get 1.7% annual interest anytime withdraw. 

To make the list, an individual agent needs to sell 50 homes/$20 million in volume, or a team needs to sell 75 homes/$30 million in volume.Im in the top 1% of agents nation wide, and one of the top agents in the DC metro area, and I do not even qualify to make the real trends list.  100 homes in a year easily makes their list. 

I would suggest joining GaREIA, great place to meet like minded individuals.

$50-99,999     333 $100,000-149,999      941 $150,000-199,999      1286 $200,000-249,999      668 $250,000-299,999      262 $300,000-349,999      132_____Owner Occupied with Equity $50-99,999      673 $100,000-149,999      3044 $150,000-199,999      7986 $200,000-249,999      6462 $250,000-299,999      3526 $300,000-349,999      2018You can also look at individual zips to see how many are there, based on the range you decide upon.There are additional criteria that you can use to look at your market such as owner age, number of properties owned, length of ownership or financial stability scores.

Non-occupant cosigners don't do you any favors in terms of FHA down payment requirement on a 2-4 unit.Apply together, ask your lender to work it up individually for each of you, and jointly as occupying coborrowers.