@James Paisley if you decide to explore the hard money option, I know a private lender in this area I can refer you to if need be. 

I have a lender/broker who I do 203k's with and she can run it as a direct lending method or broker it out, so you will get a few options, I believe.

Just the method of execution, but as others have pointed out, you might be able to make it work the way you want if you can quickly get the loan out of the borrower's name and into your name.

Are there any pitfalls to know of when using this method?

Be sure to explore the site to get familiar.

I wanted to voice my hesitations using these methods across the forum and see what others think about this.Timeframe – It seems like many of the threads that use this guide line started 5-8 years ago… when interest rates were 5-8% and not the 3.5-4.5% that they have been hovering around the last couple years.

There are likely thousands of threads, articles, and blog posts that can help you figure out methods to research leads.

Lesson learned......explore all options and resources.

HI:Just found this group and excited to learn more as I explore investing in real estate.  

* Exploring my options in investing out of state.