How does do it typically take to get your appraisal back and how did you respond to it if it was unfavorable(more than 10% off a private appraiser)?

Account Closed - I think you're confusing assessment and appraisalA property's assessment has nothing to do with its current appraised value

The lender will look at the appraisal to determine fair market value and debt service coverage ratios to determine the qualify of the investment. 

Hi Ellie,I was the Analyst for a property in Boston that had slight soil settlement and required an engineers report for further evaluation after the Appraisal was done (which was made "subject to" the engineer report).

That doesn't mean it will appraise for that, but if it does and you can swing the payment in any fashion, then it works. 

You can get into your first property with as little as 3-3.5% down but when you factor in closing costs, attorney fee, inspection, appraisal and miscellaneous expenses, you're looking at an ALL-IN 10% up front expense for your first deal.In addition to boosting your buying power through saving and building your credit, you should also be building your network.

If the property were to appraise for 390k though, the cash flow would be $1200/year and we would recoup all but 35.5k of out initial investment, making the ROI about 3.4% This goes against all my intuition as I'd obviously like the house to appraise for as much as possible, but in this case it's causing a lower return.

In Fargo, we can’t go buy a 1% deal off the MLS, but we can (real numbers) purchase a SFR for 65K, put 65K into it, refinance at a 70/30 LTV on a 30-year fixed and get all our money back (appraised for 205k) and cashflow $350/month after setting aside $375 for reserves and paying PITI.

To Andrew's point, local lenders and agents are BEST, as they know the market, how RE is practiced in real life in that area, and have a personal relationship with agents and appraisers to benefit the transaction on either side.

You'll also want to have cash for appraisal gap coverage.