The bank won't likely take a huge hit, especially if you're ARV is correct and the home has not been listed long.One tactic that I've used successfully for a short was writing "highest and best offer" on the top of the contract.

Sometimes they will accept that the house is under agreement for sale, other times the want the sale closed and the deed recorded before stopping the sale (in this latter case, not stopping the sale would be a wrongful foreclosure).BTW - if listed and just had a price drop - I see this with short sales and it doesn't mean that the bank has approved the lowered price, it's just a tactic by the listing agent to get offers to present to the bank.

You don't have to be a pro negotiator, just develop minor tactics, but you have to be able to follow up and track the status of each lead efficiently because if you're good at marketing you'll have more than your memory will be able to handle.

Granted, there are fewer variables with the cash offer...I'm not confident that all seller's agents even know what to make of a hard money offer (traditional sales).Any useful language or tactics that folks have used with success?

You really have received a list of properties from a title company or is this a tactic you are going to try? 

This is a hypothetical question - I am trying to sort out different strategies!The scenario:I have almost no cash, but I am able to put a property 'under contract' for $1000 (must be cash, non refundable). The price i...

Their approach was that I sign over power of attorney to my insurance company, so that the insurance company can pay them directly, and they would handle the entire process.

If you ever do need to call in remediators, avoid those who use scare tactics to try and force you to sign a contract.

Unequivocally, small multifamily is a long term play, which involves a lot of creativity in finance and tactics.  

In the future, I will help you remember by adding this fee to your invoice.Have great results with this tactic