This seems unusually low, but maybe I misunderstood. 

Ultimately if they are not serious about selling, there's not much you can do to force their hand.Prop 2: Not too unusual with tenant occupied multi-units to not want ten thousand looky loos trampling in and out of the tenants' living area.

Would it be an unusual process to just look at their properties, run my own numbers to compare to what they are advertising, and go from there?

It’s not unusual on a $100K investment to experience a min 8% preferred return or cash in your pocket of $8K while experiencing a paper loss on your annual K-1.

Your experience doesn't seem too unusual - you will receive a large number of inquiries, your job (or the property managers job) is to sort them and provide quick and clear responses to applicants on next steps (denied and reason for denial, etc).

There can be generally a week or two lag between a closing on a REO, and the bank actually executing and recording the deed...not that unusual.  

I've been following this thread with interest because I'm in an unusual situation of having cash to invest due to divorce proceedings, but finding it tough to get a fixed loan because I'm in the home my kids grew up in, which is expensive, and Fannie/Freddy lending looks 3 years out. 

Being stuck with unusuable property is the opposite of what I'm going for!

I don't know what the experience level is of your loan officer, but it sounds unusual for them to call an agent to ask about an ARV?

It's not at all unusual to find garbage places built the 1970s that have much worse and chronic problems than a place built with care in 1920.In buy-and-hold, your job is always to pick places that have investment longevity, that can be renovated, in areas that will most likely appreciate.