I came in with an offer substantially lower, and the sellers took it.

If you are looking at a property in a lower appreciate area of DFW what CoC return would you be looking for at minimu.

Of course, you can just pay cash for construction expenses, but this will need more initial investment and you'll have lower return on your cash. 

If the seller is not in a rush, then it will be hard to lower down the price based only on cash vs mortgage.

So if I got preapproved for a loan right now and I don’t buy a property within 4 months, it will expire and I would have lowered my credit score for nothing?

I think it'll always be one of the lower tier midtown studios, with its market being midtown millennials, who can't afford $1,500 per month not including utilities.By the way units in the same bldg. w/ same sq. footage sold for $99k in Jan. 

It would provide a lower mortgage payment increasing your cash flow. 

Part of it could be generally lower cost of doing business in my state. 

The third unit has a long term (4+ years from what I understand) section 8 tenant paying lower than market rate rent with all utilities paid by the owner.

I believe it tends to give me a slightly lower return, because the sponsor is going to be more careful, and if there is a severe downturn will prevent me from taking catastrophic losses.