You can set your auto-approve vs. needs-reviews standards, as well as instructions on who to call for what.

My coach says to move by the speed of instruction, but I'm not sure if my own market of Sacramento, California is worth spending a lot of time and money in, especially for rental properties.

Go to Home Depot and ask about the bid room program.  

Are there any lending programs that allow for seller financing of the down payment in 2nd position? 

This is where the science of the program gives way to the art of the investor.

It depends on the program, the two that I am most familiar with will do 100/100 at 70% ARV but will underwrite pretty heavily and will treat it almost along the lines of a non-QM lenders and might even underwrite the builder/GC.

In the middle of a sale of my parents condo and it's been 5 months and we have not closed due to title companie's lack of communication, instruction and then bringing an outside attorney into the fold to assist that has dragged this on even further.

There is a program offered by HUD called "Good Neighbor Next Door".

It may require you to maintain a specific liquidity ratio over the life of the loan, or maintain cash reserves equal to a specific number of payments, or upon inspection prior to the loan being Funded, Require you to come out of pocket with cash, for instance, to replace the roof because it has more than two layers on it, replace or grind concrete that has heaved, or embark on a program of replacing balconies that have rotted within a certain amount of time, et cetera...

That can mean a variety of things, and be a number of different loan programs.