@Andrew Holmes sweet midwest transactionsLet meet up for coffee/tea next time you are in Packerland.

Just my 2-cents from an inexperienced investor.

I still do not advocate this type of lending for inexperienced.

Odds are the EBA agent has not done this, and it sounds like the Listing Agent is very inexperienced as well, so the odds can swing back into your favor due to their incompetence.

I doubt an experienced REI would pay a ton for somebody that seems to have less experience than them, which means you limit yourself to mostly new inexperienced REI.  

I'm inexperienced on a good day, and my best asset is I know just how much I don't know, least of all about home restoration following a massive fire in an occupied rental.The story so far, is that thankfully nobody was hurt (bullet dodged) and neighboring properties were unaffected (miracle).

In my inexperienced eyes these deals seem too good to be true.Thank you in advance!  

But why not offer an inexperienced opinion?

However, when it comes to home repair and that kind of handy work, I'm very inexperienced.

The days of using someone's "market rent" estimate for vacant units are past, I believe.You will not be able to lock a reasonable rate for longer than 7 yrs generally, and most limit the fixed term to 3-5 yrs.If you're relatively inexperienced, they'll be looking more at you personally, so your job income, credit score, and financial statement position will be more important.