In all, we've found the returns to be great and I think it's probably a lot easier than renting it to a traditional tenant.

Under a traditional lump-sum contract, the owner agrees to pay the developer to complete a project that is built to the owner's specifications.

And you are competing with guys that have years of custom building experience.Finding a flip in Hamilton county is going to take a lot of digging, to find the traditional 70% ARV formula, and reselling to a retail buyer.

If those other things are more important that a little bit of interest rate, you could look at non-traditional private lenders. 

Now I'm wondering if the HELOC with effect my DTI and not allow me to get a traditional mortgage for the rest of the amount.

He specializes in traditional financing and is an incredible guy!

If you get a full time job out of college with a contracted salaries you can most likely buy an investment property through traditional financing.

I currently use hard money to buy and flip value add properties, along with my traditional brokerage services.

Traditional mortgage brokers will not be able to help.

The house is in a flood plain, so I can see a benefit to using concrete over a traditional wood supported floor when moisture/rot is an issue.