I do have enough cash to close on some deals in the areas that I'm looking at, however I want to see what kind of terms I'm able to get by leveraging my money and getting a loan from a mortgage lender.Can anyone please offer any tips on how to choose the right mortgage company, and any red flags I should stay away from?

First red flag: they need to move by tomorrow because their “lease is up and the landlord wants to rent to someone the landlord knows.”

The simple fact that the seller accepted your deal under asking price (unless it is really inflated) is a giant red flag. 

It's huge red flag that you are looking at deals in two different markets.

I may still do an appraisal and get a construction bid done to see if the values are a lot higher and then I may come back in or if they accept 80k plus the 20k I get down from Rick (the contract for deed buyer) cutting my risk WAY down then I might come back in.But, my other guy said the PA and earnest money issues are red flags and like you guys said the margin is thin but more importantly too many moving parts for first deal.  

Based on the comps in the area, it's not a good deal, but it made me wonder if other rehabbers consider private well water systems a red flag to stay away from, or just something to account for in the analysis (longer TOM on the sale side maybe?).

Looking at neighborhood scout, I didn't see the information you pasted, but a high vacancy rate seems like a red flag to me, especially if you plan to raise rents for most/all of your value-add strategy.

Got a flag maybe once a month no biggie can't figure it out for the life of me?

When I see the letters LLC or BBB a red flag automatically goes up to not do business with that company.

The deal was AWESOME which shoulda been a red flag.