He was patient while I handled the emergency.

Be patient and consistent.  

I've made a couple of offers and gotten outbid but I’m sticking to my numbers and being patient since my goal is to do just one transaction this year.

I heard from my mortgage broker that the 203K loan is a bit of a headache because your contractor has to be approved by the bank and you can't do any of the work yourself, but if you don't have the funds to do the rehab, I think its a great program if you can be patient with the process.  

If the seller accepts your offer and it gets submitted to the lender for consideration, be patient. 

Best advice I can offer is to be patient, run your numbers and don't make things 'work' if they don't really fit your criteria - there are other deals out there. 

Honestly, it seems like I need the discipline and patients the 7yr plan requires. 

You might even get a better deal if you are patient.

Hope that helps but I would say just be patient and look at a price drop if you are able.  

I'm a lot more patient with someone who says, "I can leave the deposit to hold the unit today and pay you first month's rent next week when I get paid on Friday after I get off work".