The appraisal indicates the rents will cover 1.1 of the PITI, and the credit is good, with 20% down, solid savings, and a W2 earner (a beautiful lending profile).

Then you have price improvements of .110 and .050 for total of 4.965% in LLPAs.This means that the rate has to pay enough to cover the LLPAs plus whatever the lender is trying to make.In case like this, where the LLPA hits exceed what the rate pays, that difference is charged to the consumer.

But if buyer has that much money to cover gap in any appraisal vs purchase price, wouldn't they be more likely to just pay their own buyer broker fee? 

However, it is only $595 per deal and it is covered by the E&O insurance.- They do NOT issue Form 1099 MISC.  

But yes, a HELOC could certainly be used for purchasing investment properties, just ensure you have the cash flow to cover the loans. 

It becomes a calculus exercise. the extra thousand raises seller costs, but should cover the extra costs at the margin in most instances. 

I do have sufficient cash of our own in our bank accounts to show we could cover the mortgage for ~6 months if it was unrented.  

The rent on the property is currently covering the PITI.

If I want to cover all of my basis and I want to do more free marketing I would do the following for some low income rental properties:Facebook Market Place - back in 2019 to 2021 FB market place was amazing.

The clause will likely cover even things you state about them that are true.