However, in such instances, the appraiser must be consistent throughout the appraisal in his or her analysis and explain the reason for the deviation, clearly describing the comparisons that were made."

They are refundable if for instance you have an inspection contingency and something pops up during the inspection!

For instance, last deal I paid one of my private lenders 10% on the project, no points.

Compare them for each scenario and see where you get more return.For instance, if the rate of return you get on the investment property is higher than the interest you are paying on the mortgage, the investment property is the way to go.

For instance, lending, syndications, or crowd-funding platforms. 

There have been instances where I do find someone who is an heir and I'll send them a letter in the mail or I'll call them, but there are just so many dead ends, whether the heir is not communicating to there being no one available to communicate with. 

For instance, a place with an $800-1200 rent can and often does cash flow way more than a place with an $1800 rent because you're likely paying way more for the $1800/mo property.That being said, forcing appreciation is great because then you're creating equity you can use to scale up.

In this instance, I might recommend having your friend act as a private lender and put a mortgage and note on the property for the amount he is investing with 7% interest.

In the first instance, "it depends" on whether offering the Seller all cash (already approved) would get you a significant discount over just offering a 20% cash deposit, with the rest financed on closing day.If not, might as well buy 4 or 5 similar investment properties, each with 20% down, right?

For instance one office there are only houses selling for under 200k.