You are better off buying this as a normal purchase or getting cash to cover the rest of the purchase.

My guess is that you will be better off just paying a builder their normal profit on the construction than with a 50/50 profit split arrangement. 

In normal operations and stable markets, the bank margin is typically about 160-180 bps above the fed funds rate, however we are currently seeing them build close to 300 bps of margin which tells me they are still expecting volatility in the bond market. 

As long as you are prepared to spend $10-20 per square foot to furnish (depending on how high end you want to go), then a $500 dumpster rental and a Facebook marketplace listing solve your problem.

My experience with these auctions is they are normally slow and inefficient because the new owner had inflated price expectations.

There are lots of lenders out there that specialize in different things and have different workarounds. by working with the same broker, they'll understand where your priorities lay and since they have a better understanding of your experience, they can push for exceptions that wouldn't normally be approved.I myself am a broker so I may be a bit biased here, but if you do feel that your current broker isn't very good or that they are overcharging you then you can certainly explore other options.

This has always been the case, but the industry is taking strides to make it more fluid.Investor Sellers can choose to pay some or all of the buyer's agent commission (that's not new) but this can no longer be advertised through the local MLS AND this must go through the seller to the agent versus through the listing agent like it did in the past.Investor buyers must be signed with an agent to step foot in listed homes.

A lot of realtors give good ones a bad name but I can also tell you I get people who ask me for off-market some of the time and this is how the convo normally goes: I explain, "sure but I can also show you homes, set you up with the MLS and - NO NO Pete, we only want off-market.

What metrics you have used normally with the understanding every market is different to determine if the investment if good or bad?

I simply shook my head.Unfortunately social media has made it easy for these bad actors to get in front of their target clientele and it's normally the  clients who have no liquidity, poor credit and very low chances for success to begin with in this business and put these courses/mentorship on their credit cards who fall even further behind.