And you don't have to use the hard money if you have the cash they will just take a bidders fee.So what this has done in our market has created massive competition because their target market is newbies.... lots of people with good credit and 50k who want to get rich buying forclsoures.. at the end of the day people will have different experinces with these from losing money.. to breaking even to make some money.. but no real big hits.. they market to these folks showing them a % return on the 20% down they make .. so if they can make 20% return or better on the down payment then people go for it..

I was driving a used car that was a gas hog, starting to break and was a constant worry.  

No problem.But this person wasn't tested by you to give her such a break and your time. 

Note my break-even point is 5% so rates have to be higher than 5% for me to loose money with ARM over 30 year fixed.

As I would love to break in to Flipping  and flip this 3bd/ 1b house but  I can't  afford the 10 to  20  it Could cost right now so I  will do  a basic/nice  update replace only the carpet  in living and dining rooms,  No opening of walls ( if Flip kitchen would need to be done, it's a small and weird shaped kitchen) put new Kitchen cabinets back plash tile  floor and maybe re tile tub area in Bathroom and paint.

We hadn’t planned on moving in immediately since we still had an apartment lease that we couldn’t break until late July.

In my opinion, it seems like you have fewer headaches and fewer things to worry about since the property newer and higher quality than others (fewer things break usually right?).

If you see a chance for appreciation in the area based on home prices over the last few years (or some insider information like a new hospital opening in the area) and you can stomach breaking even on the month to month for the shot at a higher price in 5 years this could work.Otherwise I would probably try and hold out- there is probably a sexier deal somewhere in town with similar benefits and a lower price tag.Good luck!

Also if you finance 100k, your PITI will be over $600 (as your int rate will be 5-6% on investment property) if you do not manage it yourself and take into account vacancy rates, capex,  Etc you will not be cash flowing $300 a month, you will probably break even

Without actually seeing the actual break out of everything , we can only make assumptions....