Why bend over backwards and take the risk of bad tenants when they won't even go through your screen process in good faith?

The investor also mentioned that they wouldn't make an offer until after they had the property under contract but that seemed backward to me.

@Jun Zao I think you're looking at it backwards. 

Then work backwards from there to calculate you MAO (Maximum Allowable Offer).Hope this help clear things up a little.

I was searching for reasons to fund this mortgage rather than reasons not to fund it which is totally backwards.

Reserve means nothing unless you are the only bidder.Work backwards: 230K retail5% hammer fee+$690 technology fee1% closing cost, you still need a realtor to administer the contract.Renovation: A simple paint job on a modest SFH will eat your $5K.

It'd be best to define your end goals and work backwards to see which investment path would get you there in a manner which you are comfortable with and can succeed in.

@Alex Ray Looks like you did things backwards. ;-) You should have priced properties before making the move.

And work backward from that .  

Doing the math backwards I'm guessing a current assesed value of 330-335ish?