I can understand the % of HOA rentals influencing but have not heard of this authority level before over loan type.  

There are turnkey providers that do high level renovations and even manage their own properties so the investors experience is handled all through one company.

On a national level maybe look into Quontic or Anchor (although Anchor may just be fix & flip).

I want vendors I can be lifelong clients of--improves our trust levels.

Things have changed on macro level since October however and I want to put this brrr into ASAP mode because of the fed taper and resulting mortgage rates creeping up the next year.

Typically you see refi's pull out 75% of the appraised value, so if you bought a house for 100k, did 60k in rehab, and appraised at 200k, you would be leaving 10k in the property.With Brewerytown you can go either way when choosing to flip or keep as a rental, but the level of finishes are drastically different so I wouldn't begin the rehab will you decide your strategy.

It depends on the elevation of the property and swell level of the waterway.

You won't be there to see daily progress, so will want to ensure some level of visibility (even if its Facetime or pics each day).

In this hot market what’s a good buy box, I was advised to do (ARV * 70-85%) depending on level of rehab but seems like on market listings are mostly being bought over asking, how do I compete??

Then why didn't the market force up the selling price to the correct level?