., population growth, job trends, average median income) and what thresholds you consider when deciding to start looking in a specific area. 

One week before the final signing the buyer loses their job after which the loan processor calls the employer to verify employment so the deal can not close.

I'm graduating college in mid December and will be starting a job in a different state in mid January.I want to house hack a duplex using an FHA loan. 

However after some gentle persistence I was able to follow up with a phone call and scheduled a breakfast w/ him last Friday.

Long story short, what is the right niche for a cash-paying, real-estate-is-my-hobby-not-my-job, investor too lazy to budge more than 15 minutes from the north side of the Inner Loop?

The lender is not damaged and presumably the owner was there long enough to satisfy the time requirement.Any *misrepresentation* on a bank loan, like intent, (reason for the loan), income, addresses lived at, rental history, amount of money in the bank, assets, liabilities, employment, time on the job, number of dependents, source of funds (the common things people lie about on applications that get them into trouble) etc, etc are potentially mortgage & wire fraud.

Go to REIA's and MeetUps in your area and network, listen and learn from people that are actually doing the job in your local market. 

As far as I can tell, unlike with personal Schedule A mortgage interest, there is no requirement that the loan is secured by the property.5.

However, when you apply for a new mortgage the lender will have you fill out a Schedule of Real Estate Owned form that basically asks about any properties you already own along with any lien holders on those properties, balances owed, monthly payment amounts, etc (see below for what one of these forms looks like).  

I am trying to set up a time frame schedule and budget on how much this will cost me.