It's a lot of effort and money to reach motivated sellers.

You better reach out to them days before the auction and give them a simple choice: allow foreclosure sale  to occur or allow you to take it over from them, with equity justifying your purchase.    

Feel free to reach out! 

I am reaching out for your expertise regarding a situation involving a seller from who I purchased a property subto an FHA loan in March of last year.

Please reach out if you have any questions about the Atlanta GA market.

Feel free to reach out would love to network.

Purely answering the 80% vs 90% leverage question, in most cases it's better to reach for that 20% down.

Quote from @Mike Sfera: This depends on the PM that you are speaking with when you reach out.

Currently you'll need about 30% down to reach a 1.2 DSCR.

Some people seem to get locked in to one place they find, or a place a friend or family member is selling without really evaluating the available market.In a small town in East Texas I would think your biggest risk is a big player coming to town that can absolutely crush a smaller player.