Also, the tenants will be more comfortable while minimizing their electric bills.

I think the first question is do you want to be a rental property investor or are you just figuring how to minimize your loss?

Begin with smaller flips, using other investors as your bank, which will minimize your risk.

Depending on the situation of the seller, you may have to come up with a down payment to cover the sellers earned equity, but many homes have dropped in value since mid 2022 and sellers are being left with very minimal equity depending on how much they put down when they purchased. 

Fresh out of college, we moved to Dallas, TX to take on entry level jobs making very minimal amounts of money.

To sum it all up: your top priority is to serve your interests and earn profit, therefore you should do everything you can to minimize risks and maximize profits.

Doing it by yourself with minimal assistance. 2.

I also have an investment strategy in place (core/core+ investments, minimal to no rehab, aiming for 8%-12% IRR over a long holding period).

Some hard money / private investors have minimal loan amount restrictions. 

You can do this every year if you want, its a great strategy to buy homes with minimal down!!