They're cheaper than a formal appraisal and will be give you a good sense of what the place is worth.

Then if that doesn't work, you can make a formal appeal.

many hard money lenders use their own sources for valuations and do not order formal apprasials..IE  3 I know of off hand.Lending homeConventusand Iron Bridge 

It was not a formal offer.

I wanted to formally introduce myself to the BP fam.

*If you purchased a Builders Risk policy, maybe your would have some coverageLastly, you only will know for sure if you formally file the claim. 

The bank does their formal approval (appraisal, full verification, loan docs, etc).4.

While the seller can decline any offer with an Inspection Contingency, he can not stop you from making a formal inspect and getting the report.Might suggest two simultaneous offers, one with the inspect clause and the other low-ball explicitly stating due to the lack thereof.

You definitely want a CPA who knows real estate tax and also trust/estate taxation as when it comes to issues like this, there are potential consequences if formalities are not followed.

Not exactly formal mentorship like you're referring to, but a high ticket networking-type group which has a ton of successful real estate investors & other business people.