I could put the 3.5% FHA loan route but not sure if I want to deal with FHA requirements.  

Find out what their requirements are.

The border income that you listed is only required when purchasing a primary residence, you can't use the roommate tenants , even with existing leases to help qualify for the mortgage.If you are buying it as a investment property, you just need to record it on your tax return for 2024 tax return and in 2025, when you file your taxes, you will be able to count it positively for your debt to income ratio.

Is this desirable or less desirable?

Bring on a partner with at least a decent FICO, experience in rehabbing would also help, but not required. 3.

@Jonathan Klemm   My plan is to eventually turn the two units into a SFH, which I know would definitely require permits. 

In the end, we rent each room by week, but require a 30 day minimum stay up front.  

I usually start with something like this:“We require a 550+ credit score as well as a current job paystub or a co-signer who meets these requirements.

This is a pretty weird question, I know, but I am curious.I get that you can do deals pretty much anywhere, and there are good deals all over the country, but I don't believe that the markets are equal in this regard.For example, if the seller has the ability to look at your credit as an investor (which throws out one of the sole purposes of doing a seller finance), versus states/markets that don't require that as much, I would like to know the states/markets where owners checking your credit history is not going to be prevalent in a deal, assuming the seller is willing to do this kind of deal with you.For context, yes, I am a new and aspiring investor, and due to certain circumstances, my credit is currently not the best, but I don't want that to stop me from investing in real estate (which is why I'm leaning to using seller financing).Please no answers saying that I should just raise my credit score and get an FHA/Conventional loan, because I am currently working on raising my credit, but I can't give a time on when my credit will be "back to normal" again, which could mean I could be stuck on not qualifying for a loan for the next couple of years (ain't nobody got time for that).Thanks for the help!

I have checked rental comps on the BP calculator and have found that homes in this area with these stats can rent for around $1100, but this is nowhere close to the required mortgage payment (Realistically I think I could have 2 tenants paying at least $1000 per month each, though this calculator has me thinking otherwise).