you can apply stucco over brick in one of two waysPressurewash, blue stucco primer, portland and primus two coats, then finish coatOr you can nail lathe to the brick and apply traditional stuccoCost $2/sqftCharge $4.50/sqfr

If I were to purchase the home I don't have enough money for a traditional loan so it would be hard money loan, which has a super high interest rate.  

But if you plan to live in a place like SoCal, then college degree maybe helpful.Yes, you can read Brandon's book on "no or low money real estate investing" but if you have a good W2 income job, it will open up doors for lending with banks the traditional way to start and then you can expand to the commercial lending (not dependent on your income or credit score).  

Until that happens anything can happen, whether it is Fannie Mae or a traditional seller.

I'd like to know if it's possible for me to get a traditional loan in the USA at a decent rate. 

I am using a duplex I have and one side is an airbnb and the other is a traditional rental.

There are several different types of RE investing groups, below are summaries, understand I am generalizing and a group may or may not fit into one of these categories.The traditional "REIA" is a profit making entity, sharing the sales of a speaker who spends 60-90 minutes talking on a topic and ending with a high pressure sales pitch.  

Mrs Christian is the one who has the last say in level of comfort with the area...she absolutely must have the warm & fuzzy when she thinks about where she lives.  

Traditional loan, 15% down Lessons learned?

From what I see, we'll have three :)   (Ethan, Christian, and Me).