These were very distressed assets that had all sorts of repositioning risk attached.

The big banks and even some smaller banks that don't keep all loans in house will throw some sort of stupid illogical fit about this stuff no matter where you are in the country.Find ya a portfolio lender and go get em!!

I believe a better suggestion is to work with a HUD credit counselor to see what sort of loan refinancing they may be able to qualify for. 

Not bad.Craigslist is still great. but you ;ve got to sort through all the junk too...

[One point is to make sure these are loans and not some sort of pooled investments among your buddies.

You will need all sort of permits and inspections to be able to have such approved.You did this great job and you call yourself a newbie?

To me, this is investing and you make it work however that ends up, at least when you're starting from nothing that is.So if you have to trim costs, then you can trim them in all sorts of ways and insurance is definitely one of them.

What recommendations does the community have for finding a good lease and what sort of information do you make sure you include? 

I would like to give her some sort of extension agreement for her records but I cannot find anything like this in my assortment of docs I've collected over the years.

Everything you just mentioned implies distress of some sort or another; in addition, absentee owners (rental properties, etc) are probably more likely to work with you on the numbers you need as a wholesaler.