Hope is a bad strategy.The only on market strategy that I think can work is paying cash/line of credit/hard money for a property that does not qualify for conventional financing.

I’d like to put as much down as possible with  conventional loan.

Give me a shout if you have questions, but here's the short of it.Best financing is going to be from a bank or a conventional construction loan.

Conventional rates start at 5.25% at a 30 year fix.

Two separate property appraisers (at the direction of the lender) were sent out to appraise, and neither was willing to appraise it as a "residence", and thus financing fell through (conventional primary loan).

Typically, conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are eligible, while government-backed loans like FHA or VA loans often are not.

I am looking into my first property and have been pre-approved for a renovation loan from a conventional lender.

Once the rehab was done I refinanced out of the private loan into a conventional loan as a primary residence.

Also, I am guessing that due to the state of the house, it would not qualify for a conventional loan?

That is important when considering a conventional conforming loan.