HOWEVER, Fannie/Freddie allow banks to be more strict on their guidelines.  

I have access to a lot of pre foreclosure home owners and have been thinking about contacting them but my real estate investor friends say it's too complicated and very strict law. is that true?

Of the few that would loan to us, some had really strict terms.

He focuses strictly on fix and flips but usually only buys 1 house at a time.

You do realise that despite following the terms of a rental agreement/written lease strictly and uniformly you could still be in violation of  Fair Housing laws. 

I do know a commercial loan officer here locally who might underwrite these based on debt service rather than strictly your income.

Are you strictly looking for Atlanta or are you interested in Ga in general?

These would be strictly investment properties for me.  

My projection for working strictly as a real estate investor wasdefinitely more difficult to forecast, but I looked at the current projects I had going and how I could scale my business as a real estate investor.

Those that place their money in a REIT or have zero involvement in the operations or decisions involved in the real estate are strictly investors.