This means I sign a new contract each year between seasons, and I do not receive a W2.

Since that time we managed to partner up with a much more seasoned real estate vet that has provided invaluable insight, mentorship and fuel to the house-buying fire.NOTE FOR NEWBIES: this person that I consider a business partner, and more importantly a mentor, came directly from BiggerPockets.

I manage a 40 unit self storage facility.

Hi Monte, normally for a residential mortgage your "gap" funding (down payment, closing costs, etc etc) need a seasoning period of 30-90 days before the lenders will let you use them.

National banks (BBT, Wells, etc.) typically require 6-12 months seasoning before they will refinance.

We could only get a loan if we purchased with an LLC - this was an increased cost because with four partners we had to get a lawyer involved to help us file the LLC and operating agreementFees were a lot higher, for example, the commercial lender required an LLC doc reviewIf we can get the rehab done soon enough, we'll be able to refinance in as little as 3 months because commercial loans have much shorter seasoning requirementsOtherwise, the loan underwriting and process was very similar to a hard money lender. 9.375% rate with 2 points + some closing fees. 

I've found promising leads with SECU, and also looked into Coastal Credit Union, but I wonder if there are if there are other local portfolio lenders offering short loan seasoning periods (<6 months), or who are even potentially able to roll the rehab into the loan? 

Take it from a seasoned resident for 27 years... 

You may be able to move it to a storage facility and then only release it when the tenant pays everything owed, including moving and storage costs.i would contact an attorney and talk out what is / is not allowed.

After doing a bunch of this legwork on my own I finally decided to follow my own advice and reach out to some more seasoned investors in the area to come and take a look at it and give me their opinion.It was at this time that reality set in that maybe this was not a project that was the best use of my time, money and willpower.