@Charles Burgess To be honest with you, the chances of you buying a lot and building on it for less than the cost of buying an existing property are pretty low.

If you're lucky, then after a couple years your property has appreciated, gone up in value (possibly because of rehabs you've done, rents that have been raised, or both). 

We do have a no-seasoning cash-out option, so if/when you complete a rehab and have a lease in place, we can cash-out your equity.

You are looking for a specific product and you have a situation that creates more liability for a lender, so it's going to be more costly no matter how you slice it. 

While many people do this and get away with it, you  need to realize ther are costs and risks for doing this.

My husband and I are looking to buy our first ever real estate investment out of state (we live and rent in NYC. we do not want to buy here due to high cost of properties and high tax rates).

I found 2 banks that would back me in the project both offering a construction loan with no payments during the rehab.

Consider the additional costs for cleaning and maintenance with Airbnb.

Education expenses can be considered a write-off so potentially (ask your accountant) the Pro Membership cost could be considered a write-off.

All of my current rentals cost about the same to purchase ($215-265K), but cash flow is so different and current house prices are as well ($325-600K)...and the one I spent the most for and cash flows the most, is now the one worth the least (still worth more than I paid for it 3 years ago).