His purchase money loan is already 6 months old.

Hi Rachel,There are non-QM loan and investment loan programs that do not look at your income.

I am also a licensed realtor, have worked a loan originator for hard money lender, have light general contracting experience.

A lot of people left, they let their bank have their house that they had a loan for.I buy the bank foreclosures, furnish them from estate sales, then rent them out to the contractors.6 months of STR rent pays for the purchase price of the house. 

There are safe financing choices for real estate ventures, including seller financing, hard money loans, private loans, government-backed loans, crowdfunding platforms, and traditional mortgages.

I have looked at several deals on Loopnet many of which are assumable loans as a possibility.

Qualifying for ground up construction (GUC) loans without the experience of successful flips or other GUC projects is tough... not impossible, but also notably not cheap.

In Rochester you have to take the class, thankfully its online.

Any suggestions or personal experiences for the FHA 203k loan?

While our initial down payment was modest, our loan to value is estimated at 71% based on current home value.