I would recommend looking for possible private lenders as the next step to being able to purchase more.

I offered a private bedroom with bed, desk, chair, bookcase, wardrobe.

@Sean Cole  its regional for sure.. the ones I had in MS and AL  feed us the deals.. but lots of deals there ... its funny as we talk about this.. some parts of the country there are still plenty of deals others its very tight the deal ship has sailed and its basically pre 07 market.. one size does not fit all.in Oregon we have little to no OREO inventory anymore all those agents that specialized in it are out of business and back to doing regular real estate.. the foreclosures at court house that were 20 to 50 a week are down to 3 or 4.. with MASSIVE competition.. it all cycles that's for sure.. but I bet you can still roll into certain big cities and buy hang over inventory..

They are different from a Private Lender and a Mortgager, as they want title at closing, with a separate contract between our company and them which would pay us at resale or “refinance,” Has anyone done business with them or is anyone familiar with that process?

Rates are on the rise unfortunately and I am betting the 4.5% you were looking at two months ago is now 5.5% on a 30 year.

But I met thousands of folks from all walks of life and I'll bet less than 20% were totally self sufficient on passive income. 

Then, all bets are off.My point is that the "lifetime deadbeat" thing probably is not appropriate until you look at the actual credit report resulting from the credit pull and see what's REALLY going on.My credit mentor says that scores get no one approved, but can get anyone rejected.For what it's worth ...

Property taxes ratios are very high in Kankakee,    are you looking for a realtor that will property manage for you also, or what is your plan for management,    your best bet in our area would be Bradley and some of Bourbonnais single family homes or apartment complexes.   

On another note, you could buy some nice piece of house in homestead with that pre approval and perhaps rent out a bedroom or two until you save enough to seal out a little private unit for privacy and rent raise.

If you do not have experience then the best bet is family. 3.