It took us about 2.5 months to renovate the entire property including all the old systems (HVAC, Plumbing, electrical and roof along with everything else). 

I will make mistakes and not so great decisions along the way but I want to minimize that as much as possible. 

My advise to you is to save as much money as possible and eliminate whatever expenses you can to save up for downpayments.

But, Warren Buffett recently sold his entire position in the homebuilder after owning the stock for just a few months (very not like him/Berkshire).

I know it's possible to have a parent cosign, but is it also possible to just find off market deals?

This is why job growth/fundamentals get talked about so often when choosing a market; put yourself where you have the most qualified applications possible for your home.With $100k down and assuming 20%-25% DP, you're looking at homes in the $350k-$450k range, with $400k probably being a break-even, at best.

If there’s an existing mortgage on the property, a subject to combined with a seller second, or a wrap around loan, carry significant risk and possible negative credit impact for the seller (and buyer).  

I am curious to learn more about the situation and see if there are any possible solutions.

Those events will hit US overseas investors and they will want to sale their hobby resort houses on the beach as fast as possible. 

Getting that license opens up a lot of possibilities for you to offer your customers a wider variety of products.