Towels and wash cloths go missing, so I frequently have to buy more of those items.

There are other matters which may not be insurable, so read the exclusions carefully and the TI agent will inform you of items and risks associated with any exclusion. 

If you are using traditional financing then a hard inquiry is ran against your credit -- this means that you can shop your loan around under that same inquiry.  

The only way I've heard of to get around this is to "buy" items from them that stay with the property (i.e.: $2500 for appliances, etc.)

One thing to keep in mind is that, when investing in real estate you can't always use gift money for the downpayment for the mortgage if you're going traditional financing.  

., an addition), or major items like roofs, appliance, flooring, or furnaces. 

Now I may not understand the nature of the question since it is possible you are purchasing this property via non traditional means.  

From a lending perspective, you would be much better off if she was hired to a traditional W2 job. 

We bought some roofing materials from Menards, but all the finished items are from Home Depot including the backsplash.

We do a lot of work in flood zones and from what I've heard regarding "stilts"(we call them pilings) is you're looking at 20-30k extra over a traditional slab with a crawl space....Most of our footings are within a couple feet of sea level so we've never needed pilings but if you're indeed that deep you defintiely can't pour a footing on top of muck.....The other concern is flood insurance - the lower your first floor elevation the higher the flood insurance - I'd imagine if your first floor is under 10' the insurance would be astronomical.....your best bet is to talk to an engineer, get a survey, and go from there.