My husband and I are working hard to find a lender that will work with us, however he is self employed and starting flight school (which requires a large loan) and my income alone will not qualify us for a traditional loan in our market. 

pid=1563Houston Real Estate Highlights in August(* asterisk denotes that the “Harvey effect” has been removed): Single-family home sales rose 7.6 percent year-over-year, with 5,844 units sold*;Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes declined slightly to 49 days;Total property sales jumped 36.8 percent, with 9,978 units sold;Total dollar volume increased 40.1 percent to $2.86 billion;The single-family home median price rose 3.0 percent to $236,870, reaching an August high;The single-family home average price also achieved an August record, rising 1.9 percent to $300,670;Single-family homes months of inventory was at a 4.1-months supply, down from 4.3 months last August and equal to the national level;Townhome/condominium sales rose 12.3 percent year-over-year, with 457 units sold in 2018 compared to 407 one year earlier*;Leases of single-family homes rose 7.6 percent with the average rent up 3.4 percent to $1,926*;Volume of townhome/condominium leases fell 8.6 percent with the average rent up 5.5 percent to $1,639*.

I looked at the article and there are quite a few different options to be able to reference for the comparable pricing.

Has anyone been able to build a non-traditional house (storage container, tiny home, modular,etc..) and have it pass under-writing standards?

Houston Real Estate Highlights in August(* asterisk denotes that the “Harvey effect” has been removed): Single-family home sales rose 7.6 percent year-over-year, with 5,844 units sold*;Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes declined slightly to 49 days;Total property sales jumped 36.8 percent, with 9,978 units sold;Total dollar volume increased 40.1 percent to $2.86 billion;The single-family home median price rose 3.0 percent to $236,870, reaching an August high;The single-family home average price also achieved an August record, rising 1.9 percent to $300,670;Single-family homes months of inventory was at a 4.1-months supply, down from 4.3 months last August and equal to the national level;Townhome/condominium sales rose 12.3 percent year-over-year, with 457 units sold in 2018 compared to 407 one year earlier*;Leases of single-family homes rose 7.6 percent with the average rent up 3.4 percent to $1,926*;Volume of townhome/condominium leases fell 8.6 percent with the average rent up 5.5 percent to $1,639*HAR https://www.har.com/content/newsroom?

Most traditional banks and lenders will not make a loan that small.

Or go traditional rental route, buy a place, turn it over to a management company. 

In this analysis, income stability takes precedence over job stability. 4155.1 4.D.1.d Borrowers Returning to Work After Extended Absences A borrower’s income may be considered effective and stable when recently returning to work after an extended absence if he/she is employed in the current job for six months or longer, and can document a two year work history prior to an absence from employment using traditional employment verification, and/or copies of W-2 forms or pay stubs. 

The best you can do is to evaluate it yourself based on the 3 factors and appraiser should use.1) Income approach - project rents and NOI and use a cap rate you feel appropriate to the market.2) Comparables - look for anything similar sold in that area or surrounding areas.3) Replacement - if you're essentially rebuilding it look at the cost of new construction.

I would stick to SE, flights are more inexpensive compare to Midwest something you should factor in most likely at first you might be traveling more than you might like..Best of luck!!!