Better yet notice silent triggers of pain points the prospect might be facing and connect them with a vendor from your network that can solve their pain points.By doing this it will let the interaction have a longer life span and will keep you top of mind when it it is time to sell their property.  

:Here are two recent examples (I could name a # of others):1) Found buyer, we go back and forth a bit over a week or so (this is with me following up with her about 3 times in the span of a week).

If you are financing you are weaker than a cash buyer IF the property won't qualify to regular home buyers.Regular home buyers generally outbid investors all the time as they are making an emotional decision versus your numbers one.Where the real money comes is in solving a problem.The bank has a dog of a property that only a cash buyer can purchase.You go in and fix cheap and make a huge return.How a seller sells will depend on if it's a HUD property,Fannie Mae,Freddie Mac,the FDIC,a local to regional bank,a national bank,if the asset is being managed directly or outsourced,or you have an equity debt buyer that bought a pool of properties they are liquidating.They will all dispose of properties differently in different times spans with different motivations.Raise your offer (if at all) to where the numbers make sense for you to invest your hard earned cash.If not you move on.Better to sit on that hot cash then invest in a marginal deal.Then by patiently waiting you will find the great deal.

As suggested, a mentor may be your biggest asset here since the commercial sector property spans so many different types properties.

Township and range span across the entire country.

Would it be too balsy to go 350 outright, or use the leverage of owner financing to lease option it for a 6-12 month time span?

For flipping, using a job is probably a good idea- it has a clear start & end and it doesn't span more than 2 years.

Cost over runs can happen anywhere, its the nature of the beast, a fun statistic: 83% of all "contingency" money over a span of millions of renovations completed homeowners were able to use there funds for "elective" material upgrades, not due to unforeseen, you ask how is this possible?  

I don't see how it's possible to find a place and close the deal in such a short time span.

Then find out what the life span of that new roof will be.