The main reason if be wary to claim is bc home office is a more subjective claim, it seems like, from the virus's perspective.  

May consider painting for a fresh/new look.

Lots of people here make 10, 20, or 30 offers for every property they end up purchasing, just to put things in perspective.  

Yeah starting smaller is always a good deal, as in 2-4 unit buildings, way easier to manage from all perspectives and easier to finance and if there is a problem it will likely cost less to fix than that huge deal you were looking at.Do you own any rentals at the moment or in the past???

Any other perspectives on this?

I would recommend talking about the steps you took to get over the hurdle to get your first deal, the issues you had to overcome, the lessons learned, etc.I find that the longer you do this business, the harder it is to remember the struggles you had as a relatively new investor -- so, while those struggles are likely still fresh in your mind, write them down and share them!

GO CELEBRATE EMOTIONS WHEN YOU SCORE THE BIG PROFIT AT THE END OF SALE OR REFI AT THE BAR etc etc lol.The bank will go lower, they always will go lower.Banks are down right retarded about money when it comes to an REO - they make bad choices financially from our perspective looking in, but that is what creates opportunity for people like us.A good deal......... depends on the ARV and trends in that area (comps) I don't know any markets in Illinois but nationally in compact areas if you can still get it bought 25-30% below the comps then that seems to be good.

I'm still working on my first deal and any question I have I always bring it to this forum and get it answered almost immediately with different kinds of perspective.

I see many ways of increasing our loan bandwidth and project total in general, but none of them appear to be wise from a risk management perspective.  

Well, think about it from another perspective: by allowing auction company bid on sellers' behalf, the process goes WAY faster.