I never said I was depending solely on my broker for leads all I said was I opted out of joining a team in favor for higher commission as well as getting leads supplied on top of that I will also be paying substantially less in fees.

Not all are like that but most as they have to keep selling volume for the seller to make any substantial commissions.I choose to work more with the buyers and find the best property.

The rehab qualifies for some substantial subsidies in downtown district with city having a grant program for market rate apartment buildout of $25k per unit matching dollar.

You have an opportunity to help him walk away clean and start fresh and avoid the legal hassles and creditors as long as the price you can give him equals what is owed on the mortgage plus outstanding liens/etc. sometimes it’s still not a deal even though it’s a distressed situation.3- if the amount of #1 isn’t *substantially*less than the market value of his house.

Also keep in mind that if you already own the property and want to create an LLC to move it into; depending where you are you will probably have to pay transfer tax which could a substantial chunk of change.  

They'll have the best rates and terms, but the process will be substantially longer than goinf to the secondary market lenders.

I'm debating if I should assume a full tear out of the basement bathroom will be necessary - in which case, I'd install a more "belt-and-suspenders" sewage ejection pump (may limit noise generation and risk of sewage back-ups) - and if this is the best path forward, than I'd have to negotiate a pretty substantial price-cut with the Seller.  

I agree with @SeanOtoole, the true skip trace tools such as Accurint and TLO do pull data from credit reports and give you a substantial amount of information on an individual you are looking for.

Would you recommend me to talk to these loan officers before I even get substantial savings so that the officer can see the journey and sacrifices I made and be more willing to lend me money?

I'm not embarrassed to show the building to potential tenants based on the location and the rent that it pulls in is substantial compared to the current sale prices.