They will be able to quickly give you a sense of what you qualify for and -- if you don't qualify -- how to go about saving and paying down debts to qualify.Any good agent should have a list of trusted agents. 

Another thought: if I am not mistaken, you can buy in Ypsilanti Township and qualify for a rural development loan with 0% down.

I am also assuming your RE investment activity actually qualifies for the deduction. 

My question has to do with qualifying for hard money/private money. 

I'm moving back to the states soon with my family and we're planning on investing in real estate in the near future, including possibly house hacking.We have no debts and have some money saved as well as a bit of inheritance.What do you recommend doing to get good credit and how long will it take before I can qualify for a mortgage?

@Jason Sirois no one has mentioned this yet, but if you’re changing industries (tech to RE broker/agent), you’re going to have a difficult time qualifying for a loan until you have 2 years of solid tax returns.I wasn’t sure if your goal was to become an investor or to strictly focus on being an agent/broker, so perhaps you have already thought about this. 

I told him what I was looking for, got pre-qualified from his preferred lender...and I CLOSED on a property. 

What is the best option for us since we will not qualify for the traditional purchase with using credit score?

HML these days do have buy and hold products @Aaron Klatt  in the 7 to 8% range..Visio is one they are out of TExas   LIma One has some too they are out of Charlotte.but just because its hard money you still have to qualify just like a bank loan .. these are fico driven and equity and ability to operate driven just like any loan.

The reason I ask is there are certain loan programs that she may qualify for with you as a coborrower that offer some different loan terms to owner occupants (as low as 3.5% down and usually a point or two lower interest rate sometimes without PMI).