Kind of seems like they prefer experienced investors too....

Sure, if you just spent $40k on a new kitchen to your peculiar tastes, don't expect all that back, but...

I would prefer to do it online if possible.

Then you know the exact dollar amount of any reliability or service-based premium you might be paying, and you can decide if you want to pay it, or would prefer to risk losing the house entirely.A company like the one I work at, the lender credit for a given rate might very well be $500 less than what you will get quoted at the jenky place where the underwriter doesn't know how to calculate rental income.

. $170K cannot purchase in my preferred area.

Preferably one broker.

The only reason I prefer the lender I do at the moment is because they can put in under 3.5% on a 30 yr conventional which nobody else can.

I prefer to look at the credit report which actually shows their number of creditors they owe and if their payments have been on time.

This is my personal preference and I lease my docs from an online company called Altastar for about $129 a year. 

I prefer to buy when unemployment is high, and just ready to improve.