I’d be happy to walk you through what’s worked for me and others starting out.Best of luck on your journey!

I have an awesome realtor who said walk away.

Thanks for sharing so that others can learn from your experience.As far as the appraisal, were you present when the appraiser walked the property?

Find out how much the seller needs, if any, to walk away. 

And if they can't make it work profitably, they won't be able to sell as that means nobody can either, so they will just walk away. 

It's best to walk through your options with a mortgage professional that can help you make the best financial decision for your near and long term goals.Anyone take out a healthy HELOC lately? 

Maybe this is the walk-through inspection.

How important is it to have something that is beachfront or very close versus a property that is roughly within walking distance (under a mile to the beach)? 

You really need an experienced (read old fart) GC to walk the project with you to be accurate and even then things can be missed.

If you walked up to Michael Jordan and said, "I want to learn sports" he would walk away.