Homepath Property

[Nick Noon]

Hello fellow BP'ers,

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with buying with homepath.  I looked at a property yesterday that I am going to make an offer on today.  This is my first time ever making an offer on a property, let alone on a fannie mae property.  Here are some of the details...I'll keep them vague to protect myself a little bit:

I viewed the house yesterday and it's everything I wanted in a property, and just enough filth that I was looking for. The property has been on the market for 7 days and there was already 4 people signed in on the sheet before we walked in. There has also been a lot of views on the other MLS websites. With this kind of activity, I am looking at going $1,000 above list to make sure they know I am giving them a serious offer.

My questions are as follows:

1.  Should I go in at above list for this property?  I would honestly be happy if I get the property for the offer I am going to make and it's an amazing deal at that price, but obviously no one likes leaving money on the table. 

2.  Should I write a letter to the bank mentioning some of the things such as, "This house would be perfect for my 7 week old son", "I can see us having his first birthday in this house"...and other things along those lines to make it more personal and give me an edge.

3.  After my offer is accepted.  Can I go back after the inspection and ask for some money back citing different defects in the house?

4.  If I were to make a lower offer, would I get a chance to raise it if they did not accept?  The "First Look" ends in 12 days so I don't want to delay this process any longer.

I am very nervous about my offer and I want to make an impact and get it accepted without giving other bidders a chance.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.