Would using services like own it Detroit be a good place to start? 

They are typically closer to retirement age, however I also believe knowing your options so you can plan accordingly is extremely beneficial.

After working with a lot of lenders over the years, the most important thing for me is their level of customer service (will they provide a lender letter promptly for you when you need to write an offer quickly, call the listing agent to help you get your offer accepted, pick up their phone for you, etc.) and do they close on time?

However, as the owner you still need to spend more than 50% of personal services and more than 750 hours on the real estate business on your own.Alternatively, short-term rentals are generally treated as active business income and therefore are eligible to offset w-2 income.Navigating the Real Estate Professional Rules"When measuring material participation, a married taxpayer is required to count any hours performed by his or her spouse, even if the spouse does not own an interest in the business or if no joint return is filed.32 While this rule is advantageous because it makes it more likely the taxpayer materially participates in the real property trade or business, it is a trap for the unwary in the real estate professional context, as discussed below in Step 3.""

Finding him is the challenge, typically your attorney can pull a lexis nexus and try and find their location to get them served. 

Are you not required to personally guarantee the loan, when you typically would with a bank?

s=39&t=131c0jHere are a few other places you might try (disclaimer, this is not my list)AHRN.COM...military housingTACARES.COM..for displaced familiesTEMPORARYHOUSINGDIRECTORY.COM (THD)..for displaced families.CATALE.COM..for displaced familiesALESOLUTIONS...for displaced familiesTRAVEL NURSE HOUSING RENTALS by LANDLORD (FB)CORPORATE HOUSING FURNISHED RENTAL LANDLORDS and TRAVELERS (FB)FURNISHED MONTHELY SHORT TERM RENTAL (FB)TRAVEL NURSING CIRTRU(.COM)PREMIER INSURANCE HOUSING..APARTMENTS.COM...ZILLOW..FURNISHED FINDER...FLXLEASE.COM..NURSEBNB.COM...TEXAS RISK SOLUTIONS...PRIESTON AND ASSOCIATES..BROKERAGE SERVICES INTERNATIONAL...NEW ENGLAND CLAIMS SERVICES..VALICENT INSURURANCE SERVICES, INC..

I made a comment on Bigger Pockets about how they make you search through the forums, instead of doing this, and their answer was to simply say it wasn't their responsibility to provide such a service. 

Gap funding usually requires collateral and or pledging of other unrelated assets. i don't like leveraging those items and are typically a oxymoron because if you have those assets and dont have cash you essentially get into a leverage position you dont need to be in.having a asset that can be pledged for a gap loan without cash to me is kind of an oxymoron in itself just my opinion. 

I would not want a Realtor who typically sells $500k houses to sell my $2mil house.....