I will cut straight to the situation then give a little back story to myself. I have my eye on a SFH fix and flip in a neighborhood where house prices will vary from 1.2M to 600K depending on how extensive the flip is. The property is here in the east bay area of the San Francisco. Ive been running and analyzing deals for practice for the past few months. I came across a very good property here in the east bay I decided what the hey, lets give this one practice deal a shot. I didn't think I would get this fare since I found it to be a pretty old listing on some of those real estate apps and all the investors Ive talk to say, "oh we don't use those sites we go off the MLS" So I inputted my email I knew an agent would immediately reach out to me since thats how these sites are set up. An agent did and to my surprise the agent is very persistent. After telling the agent about the property the agent says its been listed in the MLS as sold last year. The agent persists and reaches out to the owner despite its status. Turns out the owner wants to sell and sell quick! The seller only wants to do cash buys and wants to avoid lengthy deals. Since this property was a practice deal analyzer which I ran through many ARV formulas as well as the BP calculator, the 65% rule, the 70% rule basically all the rules. I ran many deferent exit strategies and the property can meet a very good ROI if I get the property for under a certain price. Here is where I need a little help. The agent helping me has set up an appointment to see the property this Tuesday only thing is, the owner wants to see a proof of funds before even considering selling to me, all my studding has led me to first finding the deal than worry about how to fund it after finding it. Well, I found it! So now how do I get a proof of funds so quickly? I've searched this site an have gotten deferent peoples inputs. Some say go straight to a HML others say you don't need one what do you guys think? should I negotiate with the seller to even consider a price reduction to meet my target number before even showing a proof of funds? For some reason I feel the agent is telling me the seller is firm on price to obtain a higher % so to elevate this thinking of mines I told the agent what my plans were and that I would be more than happy to list it with them at a higher ARV once completed was this a good move? I've only been listing to the BP podcast and reading about these types of situations now that i'm actually doing it in real life its harder than what I perceived it to be. Some great strategy advice will help!

So a little about me, Ive been studying, listing and reading all I can about real estate investing I've been walking and spending time in the neighborhoods I'm targetting which are B class neighborhoods and gentrified areas, neighborhoods where the price will vary from millions to 500K depending on what street you are on and how extensive the rehabs were. I've read so many listings and I do a lot of data and analyzing of sold and for sale properties using the real estate app filter tools. I physically visit these areas to see why someone would pay 1.5 million for a certain property and why another similar comp around the corner that was extensively rehabbed not sold for that much. I actually practice how to talk to other investors trying to learn all the lingo and terms and acronyms. I decided to take the plunge with this deal and it turns out it has all the right signs of a good deal. My plan was to tell the agent I'm working with to first negotiate a lower price if secured than I will reach out to a HML to obtain a proof of funds. My studying leads me to not forcing the numbers because I want it to work, don't force the numbers assuming it will sell for a million just because similar comps have. I am playing this the safe rout and hopping for a modest return modest being medium upgrades an extra room, an extra bathroom I can still come out with a great ROI vs a heavy extensive remodel gut job and shooting for a million ARV what do you guys think? any recommendations on my plan are welcome.
I've been  basiclly setting myself up to start investing for the past few years and now just studding and re searching and networking within the last 3 months or so. I am a Forman at my construction company running projects I know construction and have been all my life and is why I chose to focus on fix and flipping a lot of good friends of mines are all GC's or some specialty trades so I feel this property would rehab well.