Finding a bank to lend on it will be dicey and/or challenging.

This is the biggest challenge in long distance investing- I'd recommend you start interviewing again, and in your agreement with a new PM, very specifically line out what your communication and service expectations are so that there is no misunderstanding from the get go.  

Plan is to use master lease option, and then hold for long term cash flow.1) Being a unique property and hard to find comps, given the appraisal, sale and listing data, how do you determine what your max purchase price to be?

The longest I've had an REO in escrow was started Dec 2012, stayed in throughout 2013, finally closed in January 2014 - but this is not normal and doesn't happen all the time.It is common for title work to have some challenges. 

The more challenging part is funding the working capital for the rehab.  

Finding a small multi will be the challenge as they don't sell too often, but they do exist.  

In my opinion it is EASY to find a property that cashflows and has a favorable ROI, I find those all the time; what is a bit more challenging is finding that along with the 20% under market, or value add potential but, this is how I look at property - it needs to have upside along with cashflow. 

However, the cost to acquire a property that will allow you to achieve those returns is a real challenge.

It can be a challenge when searching for a 203k consultant, a contractor, and a lender that have 203k experience and a good agent can guide you through this.If you can, have the contractor and the 203k consultant walk the house together so they can develop a report with each other if they do not already have one.

My husband & I are eager to purchase our 1st rental property, but we're challenged by financing it.