If some little old lady qualifies and has good credit, rental history, what's the issue?

I see with this with a lot of local banks or credit unions.The Banker should have walked you through the basics on County loan limts versus Jumbo &  High balance.

If you are going to try it anyway, you need to get in a low competition slot.

Check with your broker.As a real estate licensee, you’ll be subject to potential complaints by property owners when they believe you did not operate in their best interest by trying to purchase their home at a “low” price and then flip the contract at a higher price.  

Typically new builds can still be negotiated/remedied through inspections while in contract (Seller credits, work that needs to be done properly).

It makes no sense to me.So, even if @Blair Colsey's wife can get a mortgage at 6.99%, a historic low for Brazil, she'd be deeply cash flow negative on that investment, unless she uses a large downpayment.

On your profile put your location. 1-Get a great Realtor. 2-Get a great Contractor3- look at properties. 4-Save your down payment money 5- Get your credit rating cleaned up.

I'm only a low volume flipper so take my comment with a grain of salt.

I would then safely reinvest this in a low risk option (high yield savings, ETFs, bonds, etc.) and am assuming a relatively reasonable 5% return.

This could include reporting expenses, depreciation, and other relevant information.Filing a tax return allows you to take advantage of any available deductions or credits that could offset other income or reduce your tax liability in future years.