I hope that this community embraces me and can teach me the inroads to this brave new world.

While the Swedes eschew closed cell foam (they see rock wool as producing a healthier living environment), if one were to used a closed cell foam it would be possible to produce wall assemblies of R70 or more)I have yet to find a build using Nordic/Swedish framing in Canada - I do know of one in Minnesota, U.S.A. - but, there must be some out there.   

I personally embrace this newbie journey!

If you want to make it as a house flipper you're going to need to embrace initiative, hard work, and hustle.That begins now.

Also if you pay utility bills they could have been flat the last few years but now the companies are raising rates as they see a healthier economy.You can't take what the seller is telling you as the gospel.

During the last downturn most cities and counties waived increases just to keep everything going.Now that economies are healthier in a lot of places these governments are pushing utility increases on what they charge plus also increasing and re-assessing property taxes.

Embrace those struggles and don’t ask why, but ask what can I learn from these impediments.

No one solution is right for everyone... try try again... embrace fear (false evidence appearing real or fail early and recover). 

There are a ton of property owners that would embrace your offer.My points of negotiation:if you are concerned with justifying your price, let the seller know that based on the CAP rate it is impossible for you to make a profit (now study how to do a cap rate based on the asking price.

I also just set up online payments this month for my renters too, THEY LOVE IT, so embrace technology get hip with it.