This, along with the approval of our in-town property management company, helped us gather information.

If they don't feel that you fully intend to move into this property, then they may not approve your loan.

Owner occupied owner mortgage rates are in the low 3% range so at least you have that to look forward to.You just need to get pre approved by a lender or broker then start looking for properties. 

We also have good credit but it’s from several years ago (about 5) as we don’t currently use credit cards.Should we wait until we have cash on hand and or more current credit to get approved/pre-approved or is it a waste of time?

Working on getting approved so I can make an offer for an owner-occupant loan.

Quick question, I'm currently going through the pre-approval process and I was told that it's required to be at a position for up to 6 months.

We are working on getting pre approved this Monday.

I would be careful with the property with the mortgage as transferring ownership without approval from bank can cause a lot of issues.  

I tried to get a traditional mortgage and was approved but when the bank appraised they said around 60k of work needs to be done in order to get a conventional mortgage on this property.

A verbal approval prior to the inspection is not a lease contract.