@Joe Villeneuve Thanks that explanation made a lot of sense.

Been there and done that numerous times.

My biggest issue with this appraisal is that he used a fixer upper that had recently been foreclosed on and a short sale as comps for a nicely remodeled home, when there are numerous remodeled sales in the neighborhood selling for $60,000 - $70,000 more.  

I've been interested in real estate investing(particularly buy and hold for cash flow) for some time, but always been hesitant to jump in.I've read numerous books, listened to almost 100 BP podcasts, been to some local REIA meetings, but I've yet to pull the trigger on anything.

Clayton Mobley thanks a lot for this explanation.

And it sounds like you definitely need a new handyman - not wanting to work around mean people is no good explanation for late projects. 

The explanation above is how the market as a whole reacts to perceived risk.However for a Specific building, paying a lower price means higher returns and lower risk.

The UW will then counter the loan as an investment property and require 20-25% down or counter it as a second home with conventional financing with a min down of 10-20%.This is what will happen if a loan officer submits the file as suggested above.It would have to be a pretty rookie mistake by a loan officer (LO) though to submit a file with out the property explanation and documentation because it would not put your file in the best possible light and achieve what you've intended to achieve.Is it possible for her to get a primary residence ?

There are many possible explanations.

These types of jobs or professions have many things in common I'm sure.Not only do you have a high degree of technical proficiency with numerous protocols but there is almost an "art" to employ the proper action and do so in, not just a timely manner, but very quickly, in an instant.