Also, have you ever had to file a claim before?

There's a lot of young kids out there that could use a story of someone who found their way out of the only lifestyle that they've ever known.

If an offer is ever accepted then contact the Title Company and/or a Home Inspector. 

Has anyone here ever built a duplex to house hack?

You can ask a family member for a loan, but some lenders will require that amount to be sourced once they see a large deposit in your bank statements.By the way, if you're ever planning to keep a property (i.e. the BRRRR method), always get pre-qualified with a conventional lender first to make sure that you actually can do the refi, otherwise you'll be stuck in a hard money loan. 

@Matt Burr were you ever able to buy anything at the auction or find out if you could use a hard money loan?

Is it ever unacceptable to offer less than what the seller has the property listed for? 

am I ever going to do business with this other realtor?    

What tightens up the market even further is that more rental grade SFR's than ever are being held by private investors and they are not thinking about selling. 

My wife and I are in the processing of purchasing our first ever property.