It's where I cut my teeth and tested all my knowledge and skills set.

I didn’t because it was either going to be a very cheap expense or very costly but I was blinded by actually getting my offer accepted.

You need to do your diligence on what is included from each.Since it seems like you are at the very beginning of your investing journey, here are a couple things to know:Most lenders for large deals will mandate who your inspector will be, or at least have a small list of the companies they will accept from.  

My goal is to not make my first offer so generous that the seller accepts it without making a counter offer. 

I accept that I won’t have every detail figured out, but I know for sure that doing nothing leads to zero progress.

Thus we were not going to accept the deed in lieu because we would then owe the PM.

This does not mean you can leave the unit vacant for 6 months (not that I'm accusing you of wanting that) but it also does not mean you can be forced to accept a less desirable tenant nor can you be forced to lower your rent.

If someone had an "event" in their life (illness, divorce, etc) then we may be willing to accept that, but if someone has had their vehicle repoed, they have items in collections, and a history of late payments, we'll pass.

However, $1K is much higher than what we pay.We do not allow partial payments and I find it curious that your PM accepted that.  

You never know who will apply, and you are not obligated to accept them.