In the meantime, make up a binder Bigger Pockets-style to wow the loan officer and firm up your business plan (with these three properties).  

You have to be fair but firm with a lease option.

@Greg Scott I messaged a few similar hosts in the area and they were nice enough to tell me they stay booked in the cold months as well with a little price reduction here and there.

Instead of competing with one another to drive costs UP, our firm tries to position ourselves as the marketing arm OF the bigger flippers in the area. 

To be clear - I am not an attorney, nor am I representing myself as an attorney nor Rishel Consulting Group as a law firm.

Extremely user friendly, great customer support and VERY inexpensive (in comparison to having a custom site designed/hosted)

I am not a big go to lawyer guy.. but in this instance If its significant money I would rattle their cages and get your money back and cease and desist any further investments with that firm.. thats my personal opinion based on the way you described the transaction.

Very viable method, but needs to be fully vetted and solid timelines for your flip have to be firmly established.

The long-term corporate above I mentioned was a short term rental with another management firm until a tenant did $60,000 worth of damage to it during spring training.

We have an excellent REIA based on Long Island where we host local meetups and workshops.