I see that there are a handful of insurers that specialize in this type of underwriting from a simple Google search, but I'd be curious to hear about your success!

Looking forward to ramping up our search.

I've been adding HUD houses in the search and those go even quicker! 

Are you searching for lenders who do 100%?

BP is an excellent source for vetting turnkey providers, simply by looking up the companies using the search function.

Searching MLS there are definitely things in our price range (250k and under) and with the features we like. (3 BR at least for owner unit is really the only criteria as we work from home and have a little girl, and decent school system) Any tips, pointers, thoughts on buying in the area?

If you want to grab some cheaper properties with decent returns, you can search thru areas like 38127/38128 but you'd want to thoroughly check the street and comps.

I’m mainly searching for a mentor in the local area.

Find the county recorders records for the county where the property is located and start searching. 

For example, the search for a duplex to house-hack one unit and rent out the other can be substantially different than the search for a 20 unit non-owner occupied property.