You’ll be tempted to soften the blow but don’t, you’ll just give them the ammo to take you down.

. #1 - I'm not so certain that asset prices won't soften in the next few months making flipping now tricky (in a few months, it may be great!).

From working and talking with Investors it sounds like the rental market for SFR and Townhomes is still strong, but with Condos we have seen softening in the rental market. 

But if your state has a similar program, it might soften the blow for the seller.

To your other point, we did feel a little bit burned on our last refinance when the appraisal came back $15,000 less than what we paid... after increasing gross rents by $175 per month and updating water heaters, water softeners, and doing some landscaping.

I predict we will see some softening in the next year, but how much and how rapidly is impossible to predict.

You should invest in a water softener if you have copper pipes.

Make an offer just based on those conservative numbers, leaving that cushion to soften your fall in case you fall on your butt.

In the meantime, I'm seeing some softening in prices at a vacation destination about 4 hours from home. 

The grand thing is you have some time on your side with the market probably softening here soon.