I bet a real estate attorney can help with the form to ensure everything is covered.

I currently spend about 160k-220k cash a year, and a safe bet would be about 200-250k pre-tax (especially when you start adding kids private school costs soon!).

Your best bet is either find a lender who specializes in that range such as auto/boat/motorcycle, etc. or you have to go to the usual advice of a local credit union or bank that will lend from their own books. 

My question is how would you handle this situation and the safest bet?

I'm betting they dinged the walls a bit when they moved in (which happens). 

“Build for the poor.” they say.

That’s the best bet.

But the good news is you can gain skills and experience, making you a safer bet.

If the HoA is lower, you can bet there will be deferred maintenance and you'll pay for it sooner or later...

Have a great point about the details and photos of the listing, which in my experience can be a big factor.I've acquired a few properties that were on the MLS in the past couple of months (Fixer-uppers in Northern NJ in this crazy market) for quite a decent price, to say the least, all through leveraging poorly listed listings (I.E. one was a 2 Fam in Newark categorized as Lot/Land on the MLS) which translated to fewer offers to compete with.