I figured I'd try to put a new one out to see if there are any new faces lurking on this forum.As for your second point, I personally have found it way more productive to vet a good property manager before worrying about agents.

Its 5% down on 2-4 units on a fixed rate loan.https://sf.freddiemac.com/working-with-us/origination-underwriting/mortgage-products/home-possibleGo toward the bottom of the page and click on Home Possible Factsheet.

They'll know your strategy with the first lowball offer anyway - but don't be surprised if they decline to work with you. 

With only $10k of investment, I'd counsel you to go with the FHA 203k route because the loan product only requires 3.5% down payment and you can finance 100% of the renovation budget.

The area (imo) is somewhat declining as the city is more focused on other areas. 

Not only will you meet with investors, but you will also gain product knowledge and learn about different fields of real estate.

SFR would certainly not be the end goal of my portfolio, so the 5-10 year perspective does make a flat line or potentially declining market a little bit less scary.Have you taken on a rental in a declining local economy?

I'm experiencing a similar challenge - looking to have an off-market deal appraised and so far, the two residential appraisers I've contacted have declined the job as "too complex" for them.The appraisal is necessary so that the seller and I can have a starting point for negotiation.The deal consists of (2) adjoined parcels: one parcel with a SFR, five car garage, trailer (will be removed prior to sale), and non-operational twenty unit storage building; the second parcel has a non-operational forty unit storage building.

You will also find Construction Management software built specifically for homebuilders and remodelers like BuilderTrend & Co-Construct.Podio, AirTable or SmartSheet could also be a good solution because they are very customizable, but will take some work to get up and running.Here's a summary of other products you might want to consider for project management below:General Business Task ManagementTrello/Zoho Projects/Basecamp/Workflow - Feature-rich project management software that includes Tasks, Gantt scheduling, calendars, project forums, document storage & team collaboration tools.  

From Tellus's website I can't tell how their loan product works.