Despite offering above the asking price, I'm consistently missing out on potential deals.

Their job is to answer your questions, consult with a professional (broker, attorney, title company) when you don't know what, who or how to ask :) The central and south coast does offer quite a bit fewer hurdles to permit, more on that later... 

Ironically, the offers we had from private entities to purchase the property were approximately $200k less than the final price.Why was this the case?

Owners mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator – so, they often select the first PMC they call or that calls them back!

Detroit's change efforts offer single-family and multifamily buys.

Is it feasible to obtain a loan or a good old boy agreement where a lender offers 100% financing for both the purchase price and construction costs at hard money rates, secured by a second position on the borrower's other properties?

Quote from @Michael Smythe: @David Hersh we have at least a dozen clients from Canada, so PM us for more info:) Do you offer lending or just property management services?

The rental income podcast just had a guest on that offered a “cheaper” and “easier” way to split water/ga between units.  

I am an out of state investor in Indy and recently got my offer accepted but the lender is now offering an extremely high rate 6.375% with a 3.5% discount rate for $3,172.

Find Brandon's videos on YouTube for the "four square" method of analyzing homes and practice.