small town means small appraisals. will never get it done unless you start buidling a lot of them.

Due to the age of the home and the appraisal we ended up closing at 10k less than the asking price.

Chances are this is NO deal property as the X will want their fair share and a fair market appraisal will need to be done and the equity split equally.   

It appraised for $519,000.

It has a value of approximately $120k, to be confirmed with an appraiser yet. 

Also, if you buy using a hard money lender or cash, Zach Starnes can do re-fi's off the appraised value shorter than the typical 6mos and then you might not need any money down if you buy at the right price.

having a local commercial Banker is key I would never go with a national HML for construction.. unless I absolutely had to .. like right now I am at 1/2 point and 7%  for my vertical loans no junk fees and my bank even pays or the appraisals . :)  these are not credit score loans ( I mean I have a credit score) but thats just a formality its all about capital and relationships with your bankers and deposit relationships thats key as well.Yes your relationships with sub contractors will be a huge factor in profitability, both direct and indirect. 

After year 1 we added more originators, more processors, an appraisal review analyst, a VP of capital markets. 

Here is some key information:Property recently hit the market and has 2 cash offers alreadyThe seller provided a pre-inspection report, which I shared with 2 different lenders, both think it may fail conventional financing due to potential structural and electrical issues (realtor thinks it could pass conventional)Seller has 100% equity but is behind on other payments (not sure of the urgency money is needed)This is my first attempt at an “investment” property so I’m new to thisI see 3 optionsMove forward with an offer using conventional loan pre-qualification-Not as attractive of an offer to the seller-Possibility that appraiser calls out structural/electrical issues that need to be fixed before closing, effectively causing financing to fail- Best terms and fewest loan fees for meUse a rehab style loan such as ChoiceRenovation-Even less attractive than a conventional offer to seller, but less risk of failed financing if appraiser calls out issues-Slightly worse fees and interest rates compared to conventional-Lenders tell me possibly up to 60-90 days closing in some cases, with red-tape for contractor requirements and draw schedules (sounds like the most hoops to jump through during rehab)Use a hard money lender-Most attractive loan option I can give to seller so I can compete-Much higher fees and interest rate for me-need to refinance into a conventional at the end of rehab (not familiar with seasoning periods but I think this is a factor as well)Which option would you do?

I think you should be paying about 10.5%-12% on average right now, 1-2 points as well, and some lenders will not even need an appraisal.