There isn’t a huge inventory in that area either.

I'm wondering if it is possible to use an FHA loan to buy a home, live in it for the minimum year, then refinance with a conventional loan, then acquire another property with an FHA loan, live in it for the minimum year, then refinance with a conventional loan.... and repeat....Thanks BP!

I didn’t have a ton of inventory when the market turned out here either, which helped some compared to other investors flipping homes, but if looking to flip and worried about market drops, this is a strategy that works out here.

Conventional mortgage.

You could get a standard Fannie/Freddie loan in your personal name - which you could find for 75% max LTV for 30 yr fixed from most conventional banks or lenders.

If you are to get a fixer up, you could do the renovation loan on a 203k FHA with same 3.5% Downpayment, there is also a conventional reno loan with Fannie Mae HomeStyle but downpayment differs, 5% on 1 unit, 15% on 2 units and 25% on 3-4 units. 

As a fellow STL investor, I do conventional mortgages on my rentals under my personal name. 

All conventional lenders have the same rental income guidelines as they follow Fannie and Freddie. 

20% down on a Conventional bank loan.

20% down on a Conventional bank loan.