203 K Contractor/Home Inspection

[Steven Holiday]

Okay. 

One toe at a time, I'm dipping into the --FHA 203k process and I have many questions. Obviously I could Google the answers, but there are so many of you with so much experience and you never know what you're going to get on a Google search. So thanks for your help in advance.

So if I understand the process completely, it works something like this. 

1.  I find a home (hopefully very motivated and undervalue). 

2.  I walk through with a contractor and we determine the amount of work needed to put it in acceptable condition. 

3.  I use appropriate pro's to determine the project's after repair value.

4.  We take the deal to the lender and see where they want to go. 

So my three-part questions is,

-- is my understanding pretty close (at least up to that point)? 

--I would never think of closing an MLS house without a property inspections, but in this case, would that be overkill?

--Would most contractors do the walkthrough like a bid on a job, (ie, no cash required) , would they expect a fee to do the "walk though", or is it negotiable/case-by-case? 

Thanks again in advance, everybody.