If the numbers make sense, the plan is to approach the seller and attempt to get a lower price for this "2-story" building which has vacancies, since that's what the owner is selling.

I wanted to help them out and minimize their loss and saw an opportunity to get a property slightly below market because of my commission savings, immediate mortgage and maintenance relief, in addition to keeping a lower short term interest rate How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

All of this equates to lower returns with turnover costs, being the primary one.  

there's a tremendous demand for inventory - both primary residences and rentals - and so buyers are willing to accept lower yield than a lot of us think makes sense. 

As you're just starting out in Austin, focus on learning the local market, particularly areas with good rental demand and lower entry prices.

Talk to the seller, but options are to cancel the sale (and risk losing your deposit), renegotiate to lower the price to allow you to fix the problems or ask them to fix it. 

That rate will be lowered further to 40% in 2025, and 20% in 2026.

As sellers realize that buyers cannot pay the same price for the same income stream as before due to the higher rates dampening overall buyer returns over that 6-month market cycle, sellers will eventually transact at lower prices, making it more apparent to sellers where the current market pricing is.

I wanted to help them out and minimize their loss and saw an opportunity to get a property slightly below market because of my commission savings, immediate mortgage and maintenance relief, in addition to keeping a lower short term interest rate How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

In this case, you can use Rental Income from the units that you will not be living in and that income can count to help you qualify.FHA rates are going to be lower than conventional for you almost always, but FHA does have a 1.75% funding fee.