My husband and I would really like to get back into flipping homes as a preference rather than having rentals.

My current/ preferred lender (who is not licensed in the state where I'm looking to purchase) never had a problem getting me qualified for properties that are much more expensive than the vacation home I'm looking to purchase.

I have a deal I’m considering that I should have plenty of time to get a conventional loan and would prefer not to carry the risks of hard money. 

@Brandon Beatty You mind sharing the calculator that you prefer for running deals through your analysis ?

Preferably free, but if you know of a good paid site please let me know.

Reach out to me directly if you prefer.  

Just like many of you, my preference when purchasing a new property is for it to be vacant, so that my property manager can vet quality tenants vs the roll-of-the-dice that comes with inherited tenants.That said, where I primarily invest—Detroit, MI—inherited tenants are pretty commonplace in 1 to 4-unit properties, and sometimes those deals are just too good to pass up. 

Most notable was closing costs if you use their preferred lenders. 

I think if you underwrite a little higher vacancy cost and maybe a little more difficult to re-sell as most people prefer more of a mix. 

I think for my purposes though, I'd prefer to have the tenant as helpful as possible with finding a replacement, so that I don't have to constantly be running and doing showings, etc.