I would think you may need to establish some work history and dependable income to be more appealing to lenders, so that is something to consider.

Our business requires a much more in depth knowledge base to advise investors.  

I usually will say who referred me to them and say that they are a friend, neighbor, family, etc and will then ask what their lead times usually are for work to be completed, how they communicate, are they comfortable working with me being out of state, how do they collect payment (terms and preferred method) and do they offer a business rate?

This would be 2 days before he announced in his June 20th email (which I believe you have) that he was suspending payments to hundreds of investors because of financial problems.He did not disclose anywhere in the webinar (48 hours before the email) the difficulties that his business was experiencing which was laid out in the email 2 days later.

Once i have my permanent financing completed, then I'll confirm that it's gone well =D  I lived in this market for 7 years while I did my schooling(undergraduate and graduate) and have family and friends  (as well as business partners) in the area. 

Personally I think it depends on your involvement in the flip.

My business partner and I are looking to invest in single-family homes and duplexes in and around Atlanta.

It just really depends on whether you're looking to invest in single or multifamily properties, how much you're looking to spend, and what type of neighborhoods you feel comfortable investing in. 

It all depends on your goals.I house hacked a condo, did a HELOC and FHA 203(k) to house hack the second one.

I suppose it would depend on the building code if that was offered or not, or had to be hard wired in.