I decided to go with conventional financing for the same reasons you laid out, however I would ask why the FHA interest rate is so much less than conventional. 

As far as being mad at your Realtor for not putting a due diligence period in your contract.

As far as safety, I run everything through a title company.

If i were to find another military member willing to go into a deal like this what do you see as far as the pros/cons of the deal?

Also, where could I do some research on the specific property to find out what the situation of the foreclosure is so that I can make the letter more personalized.That'd be awesome!

There is so much information to overload yourself with, so many gurus with the next best thing happening, and so many different changing variables that its hard to decide what's best for you.First get clear on your personality, strengths and resources, then consistent action will teach you everything you need to know along the way.

Either way if the broker needs you to point out what a great deal it is so they can snatch it from your grasp they are probably the wrong broker because they know less than you do. 

But none of the buyers we had (and we knew what they were looking for) said they were interested, even though it matched their criteria as far as the town, purchase price, cost to build etc, saying it was a few blocks over from the side of town they prefer.

As far as goals (painted with a pretty broad brush)...

As far as finding multi family home you defiantly can find it on the mls using a broker or realtor.