It is your choice to raise rents or not based on a variety of factors, which in your case could be anticipated vacancy that you'd like to avoid, especially in light of having to evict other units.

I had a duplex under contract last month and had to back out after the inspection revealed big issues with the foundation and we couldn't come to terms on the credit they'd pay us to fix it.

The Home Inspector report revealed major deficiencies in the rehab and the Home Inspector told me that the rehab was like “putting lipstick on a pig”.

.- At the open house, if it still seems to be a good fit (gut checks, no suddenly revealed secret cats, etc.)

Hey @Kadeem SamuelsI can't make a direct recommendation since I'm not from your area, but I'm sure someone on the forum can.It also helps to build up a variety of team players for your future endeavors by checking out the company page in the menu above to hook up with a few professionals in the area you need team support in.

They will be able to tell you your down payment requirement at different price points with a variety of different loan packages (conventional, FHA, Jumbo loans, etc.). 

South Dakota (69%), South Carolina (63%), West Virginia (63%) and Florida (62%) were also revealed as the top inbound states for 2021.”

I want to protect myself in the event I can't find decent financing (asking $1.2M) and/or inspection reveals surprises (older home). 

Pretty consistent statistics from variety of sources show 3 out of every 5 adults in the US are living paycheck to paycheck.

Even more importantly, you absolutely need to learn how to review and interpret a variety of financial reports, so you can get a reasonable understanding of the actual financial condition of the project.