Inside the industry "FHA/VA" are lumped together frequently.A day 0 problem I encountered when I left the bank to become a broker was that sometimes consumers thought my VA/FHA was a "red flag" b/c it was "too low." 

There are certainly some red flags there.

Is that a huge red flag?

Here in CA, a contractor can not change a deposit on contract signing of more than 10% which can not exceed $1,000.As a contractor, yes, I want a client to have some skin in the game and not be out of pocket too much on any job but I also understand the client also wants to be protected and not have to risk any contractor collecting a large deposit and then running off never to be seen again (a common scam in the industry).In this case, the contractor is asking for too high of a deposit which is a red flag to me so I would either ask them to reduce that deposit or find another sub for this service.

The Fannie Mae system has gotten much smarter and is/will be much easier to flag transactions like these and challenge them as fraud.  

Red flag?

Too many legal red flags for me if the PM doesn’t perform and they own or fight to own part of your deal.

The quickest flag for me is seeing the same or lower vacancy assumption in Y1 on a value-add play where market rent premiums are also achieved for majority of the units in that same year.

Then they sell pad sites up front to secondary players (restaurants, cell carriers, gas stations, etc) once the anchors (Target, Bed,Bath,Beyond, etc..) announce.

I'll do it more often for tenants with payment problems, lease violations, failure to maintain landscaping, or other red-flag behavior.When you see a problem, address it immediately.