I was pre approved for a mortgage about month ago and the bank quoted 4.625% on a 30 yr fixed.

You can bank on that.

I do enjoy the numbers behind investing.

So glad you guys enjoyed the event.

But you should be able to find a local bank, or other investor would would be willing to finance a stable property with equity at lower than HML but more than traditional rates. 

I still have cash in the bank, but not enough to dish out another $30K in more downpayments & closing costs without going house poor.

Let them put a few thousand dollars down and you act as the bank, at least get a few hundred bucks every month and in these situations you can usually charge a few bucks for the house.

Banks are going to be your best option for loan amounts under $1mm.

I invest in newer SFHs and I've received cash flow and enjoyed appreciation on each investment. 

We also felt that the realtor  would roadblock us by not submitting offers that in their opinion was, "too low and the bank wouldn't take that" and was attempting to get us to pay for homes that we felt were too high, for their own personal gain on return.