Once you find someone willing to let you shadow them, approach it with professionalism and a willingness to learn.

Id keep looking if it was not an approved short sale ( even an approved short sale takes a very very long time and theres no guarantee that you will even close on the house after months of waiting). q1)There are plenty of non traditional lenders that could offer you construction financing if the numbers make sense but it will cost you with points and a higher rate.

That makes a real difference.Initially we had one originator, one part-time processor, and a part-time admin assistant. 

Hello,I am a Software Engineer and a Real Estate Investor working on a tech product for the real estate mortgage brokers.

For a cash out refi, you are generally limited to 75% LTV and rates right now are in the mid 7s for good credit and a DSCR over 1.0. 

If you still want to rent out your other bedroom you can have a tenant in the opposite side AND a roommate which would give you two income streams.

@Alex Houser You need more numbers and a proper inspection to justify the price. 

My 2 cents: You're young, you could get a real estate or real estate adjacent 9-5 so you can get paid to to learn more about real estate while learning and building the side hustle outside of business hours.Seems like you live in a major US market so that's a plus, you could get a tenant services coordinator job in commercial real estate making $40-60k (not sure if that's more or less than what you are making now) It's an Entry level role, anyone with a degree and a polished resume and a passion for real estate should have a decent shot at landing a job like this.

Everyone thinks they can paint but there's a big difference between a professional paint job and a non-professional one (the latter usually actually damages the property instead of improving it). 

But it would be nice to have access to the software and a place to basically wholesale the ones you don't want for yourself.