Spoke to a couple of lenders recently who mentioned FHA loan minimum credit requirement is now 640, not the 580 I initially heard.

Once the rehab is complete, we can then refinance the home, hopefully covering our initial loan and rehab costs.

Thanks for your initial post.Mike

It appraised at $175k and I was able to refinance, pay off the seller and my friend/cards, got back my initial $9500 plus about $15k more, and then repeated. 

He also invest in single family homes and we had a quick lunch where he initially sparked my interest into real estate investing.What kind of questions would you recommend as a good starting point when interviewing these critical partners?

@Dan Wentworth, @Taylor L.Dan, Taylor has provided some very good initial steps to get you started with creating those relationships that will eventually bring you some quality off-market deal flow.I would like to reiterate the point that this is not an overnight process.

Our second park was a turnaround project that we purchased at a bargain cap rate but where we were going to need to replace all the water and sewer lines in order for the city to agree to let us get all the tenants on direct bill with the city (initially it was one master meter paid for by us, about $5-$6,000 per month, crazy leaks, terrible).

You want to start smaller, make sure your initial property cash flows, and leave as little of your cash in your first deal as possible. 

I am a total newbie to investment properties, so please bear with me.I am considering purchasing a house in Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area initially as a vacation home and potentially as a retirement (way down the road) home.Before I ask my questions, let me give some information: I do not expect the home to be used by me, or my family, for more than 6 NON-consecutive weeks out of the year. 

If you really have to have the initial few hundred in cashflow right now then go ahead and go to MW but I’d still recommend buying your first one where you live.