Getting my ducks in a row for my first deal!

[Derrick Lubomski]

All the hype on where to make the most money and find the best deals seems to be you have to find them off market. This being said, I have been trying just about every option possible outside the MLS to find a duplex up to a quadplex in the Pittsburgh area for me to house hack for my first deal.

Turns out I may of found the perfect property for me. Stumbled upon a duplex that is very dated but over all in good shape, and owned by an older widow who is getting tired of dealing with the turn over of tenants and is strongly considering selling within the next couple months. 

I communicate with her often, and after her showing me the property she wanted me to make her an offer...as this is my first deal and the first rule of negotiating is never make the first offer, I replied I needed to do a little more research and asked her if she had any idea what she was looking to get out of the property. Clearly she knows the first rule as well, because she said she had a range in mind but wanted to know what my research showed first...

This is where I'm stuck at, since it is off market as well as being my first deal, do I need to bring an agent on board?? What about inspections/appraisals? Since I plan on living in the one unit for a while do I still apply the 50% rule or the 2% rule when running numbers? I have contractors in my family as well as me being a Civil Engineer myself, so my plan for financing would be an FHA 203K loan, renovate/modernize the 3 bedroom/1 bath asap so I can get it turned over and get it rented, then live in the 1 bedroom/1 bath and renovate that myself while I live there.

I have already been pre-approved for a conventional mortgage, but this was back in my rookie days when I was looking on the sites like Zillow for multifamily properties. So my next step is to talk to banks about the 203k loan now, but will they make me get an agent regardless? Are there any steps I'm missing? As I said I'm working on getting my ducks in a row with trying to minimize all mistakes with my first deal, so any advice helps!

Thanks!

Derrick