@Wayne Brooks -- It was a foreclosed house, bank-owned, and they will pay no closing costs. 203K is definitely a "different animal" and there seems to be a lot of misinformation I'm getting regarding the process from lenders in this area.

Bought a house in NJ and am in the process of renovating.

@Derek Caffe  oops, i overlooked that. yes, phase 1. 

I will be house hacking for at least a year, when I plan to start the process over with another 2/3 family.

I think if you could easily pay that extra bill during the process of the flip (Research, closing, renovating, and listing), then I say go for it.

As someone to help walk you through the process - contract, contingencies, title work, etc. - and split the deal.

There's also a few commercial investors and lenders in our group who would be interested in working with you throughout the process of finding and acquiring a commercial deal of any size.Once you have some time freed up, we'd love it if you could make it to our meetups!

@James ManessAnother option is to open a self-directed solo 401k if you are self-employed and process the transaction and a solo 401k is generally not subject to UDFI. 

Is this and up-front individual conversation with each broker during interview process to find out more?

While you need to hunt for deals, the most successful people will create the deal in the process.