Anyway, we told him it was a lender requirement and that we would have to exercise our finance contingency and back out of the deal if he didn't provide them. 

Flips are an exercise in project management. 

Another way to back into the price I would offer is to take the current rent of $94,000 assume 50% expense ratio (not perfect, but close enough for this exercise) and assume the balance is net income, so $47,000.

I know that for many new investors, to have a good credit score and be able to qualify for loans are crucial for the exercise of the BRRRR or any related strategies.

And I am pretty certain you'll get some good appreciation in Spring, on top of your cash flow.Somebody here suggested running this through the BP calculator and I think that is a great exercise. 

But of course, understanding this, I would still look to be as passive as possible in the investment, and am trying to go through the mental exercise of how to do that with a smaller apartment complex, specially since the feedback I get is that it's not possible without thing being riddled with headache and a ton of work.

They want it because they are tired of working for money, doing something they’d rather NOT do.They want to spend more time with family, friends, travel, pursue passions, exercise, and more.So, it’s fair to say that for most people, when you really dig in and ask them, their definition of “financial freedom” is having passive income coming in, WITHOUT WORKING, so that they can do all of the above things.That’s good, we’ve narrowed down what most people, and probably you, really want.

One exercise I do is I imagine every spend/investment using the 1% rule.

OR.Should a NEW investor instead exercise caution in purchasing a property UNTIL they have at least 15-20% down and additional funds for a rehab budget, regardless of the merits of the deal (so long that the deal cash flows). 

Chances are that you wouldn't trigger the due on sale clause.The lender can exercise the "due on sale" clause if the name(s) of the buyer are not the same name(s) as the members identified as the owners of the LLC.