I'm willing to work, search, direct mail market, submit 3 offers a day, etc. etc. 

You must use the services of a qualified intermediary who documents the exchange and holds and transfers the proceeds between the sale and purchase.5.

My agent gave me precise and clear instructions on how to document everything properly, and when my work comp audited me, it took them 2 days to clear me up, so what's the fuss?

However, I just started calling around and it sounds like my husband needs to have 12 months left on his military contract OR have documentation from a new employer in the same field as his prior MOS (job in the military) if it is less than 12 months.

If you dont have any of the grey area types of income where the calculation is subject to loan officer skill and supporting documentation to tell a certain story then you'll be fine and your 48% DTI may be accurate. - you have 5% or less down so hopefully you're qualifying for a 1 unit or single family residence (SFR)/ condo because conventional in "general," cannot lend to 2-4 unit properties as a primary residence with that low of a down payment.

One option is do your survey, site plans and pre-submitted all conference then check to see where the market is at.

We close on March 1, we have private financing, and we submitted our LLC paperwork today(we weren't sure if we were going to create one until meeting with a CPA yesterday).

Took about 3 months to close due to all of them living in different states and having to receive, sign and return documents.

You're going to need some type of written documentation to protect your portion of the investment, ie the rehab expenses.  

Check out my website and see if it's a fit, then follow follow instruction to submit an abandoned property.