I locked in 2.875% then they took forever to close and were busy so I thought I'd try to get competing offers especially after hearing the benchmark rate fell to zero.

We are still in a sellers market and competing with other buyers.

Well this is what I do.One, get an expired listing, knock on the door of the home seller, give a free report about lease to own, how lease to own works, why it helps them sell on terms versus for cash, how it helps them save money by not paying a real estate commission or closing costs.Two, follow up with these expired listings, many need to think about it for a month, if you follow up, you will eventually get sales.Three, when presenting to homes with no equity, you want to go through all your choices, so what I do is I present three columns, and basically talk about the cost to sell in the first column with an agent, which include, real estate commissions of 6%, closing costs that 2%, sellers concessions which can be 3 to 6%, vacancy costs which can be 4 to 6 months while an agent tries to sell a vacant house, and the seller still have to pay PITI, and lastly spruce up costs like paint, carpet, landscaping, etc. to compete with all the other $500,000 houses.

You’re a player in the ICT as a cash buyer if so.

They are aborists and therefore more knowledgeable than many of the competing services.

@Brad Van Epps I’m a very small player in this game but I pay cash for those repairs.

You'll want to know who all the players are in the investment world in your area. 

No competent person in any of those categories will say 'yes, I want to be on your team!'

@Stephen FoltinTownhomes will sell for less because they’re competing with the builder. 320k for a 2 year old Townhouse vs 355k for a brand new home.

A home inspection report will NOT give the basement/foundation a clean bill of health if they spot something--they will recommend you seek out a competent professional, which in this case, would be a structural engineer.Full gut renovations--get reports/certifications for foundation, termite/pest report, roof inspection, plumbing esp sewer and supply/water main, and electrical service entrance.