Every time that you refinance, you pay those costs and gamble on whether the property will appraise.

As was mentioned, seller may not be motivated enough, or not really get that their property isn't worth it...You could ask a ton of questions and just listen to see their timelines / if they are motivated.You could also give them 2 offers-- each with appraisal contingencies and say "I can pay via a loan but the appraisal has to match" if the thing is truly high, you can gamble (it if it's not off the wall price-wise.)Second offer could be: "I need you to hold the note."

Else you are just gambling.  

I hope to make lots of new friends in the industry and network with the greatest community on the web to success.

Your gamble..

The days of the 2% (and even 1%) rule seem to be long gone and anything listed on the web that meet the criteria are usually tear-downs. 

The FFIEC manages a web site search engine and the ratings of these community banks. https://www.ffiec.gov/%5C/craratings/default.aspxI did a quick search of Chicago.

the last time I gambled I lost $500 in about 15 minutes and called it a day so if my calculations are accurate I could probably have a ton of fun for a full day in Vegas haha

@Sean Bis, Based on the take I got from the web conference.  

If you are looking for a purchase agreement, then you can contact a local real estate agent (many young agents would help you out for a small fee), you could contact an attorney or you could go online an pay one of the legal doc web pages for a contract.