In the current environment I would pass which is an unfortunate side effect of recent legislation, the bar is getting higher. 

Possibly a loose lending environment due to liberal politics making huge concessions for first time homebuyers, more down payment support, etc?

Here is an article by Don Layton: Senior Industry Fellow at Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University: "The extraordinary and unexpected pandemic increase in house prices: causes and implications" Click here to read the article: Harvard UniversityIt's a fascinating read for anyone trying to understand our current residential real estate environment and why some markets are seeing crazy appreciation during the first 4 months of 2021. 

It seems the Fed is going to keep interest rates low for a while and expect prices to continue to increase in this environment.

Look for jobs, migration, and a friendly legal environment first!

If you're holding onto cash in a inflationary environment, your cash is losing value ever year (it' worth less)

The general ballpark I've heard/read/was expecting is 0.75%-1%  above market rates for a primary residence so I would have probably not balked at something in the low 4's, but 4.9% in the current environment felt high.

We narrowed it down to:- Code Violations (trying to find distressed properties)- Pre-Foreclosure (assuming landlords have some tenants who haven't been paying rent during the moratorium and don't feel like dealing with the headache anymore)Our thought process is in the current market environment, the only type of houses we will be able to wholesale will be houses that need a lot of rehab.

We narrowed it down to:- Code Violations (trying to find distressed properties)- Pre-Foreclosure (assuming landlords have some tenants who haven't been paying rent during the moratorium and don't feel like dealing with the headache anymore)Our thought process is in the current market environment, the only type of houses we will be able to wholesale will be houses that need a lot of rehab.

While you can do as little as 3.5% down with FHA or 5% with conventional, in the current market environment that may prove very difficult.