If after you move in your side of the duplex and should you not like the situation, all you have to do is simply move out and rent the other side and be in a positive cash flow situation.  

I am worried that after the offer gets accepted, the appraisal value might come in significantly lower than the contract price.I understand that discrepancies happen, and I’m not concerned about a small gap (10-20k), however, if the appraised value would come in significantly lower (50-100k, or more), then I would simply not be able to afford this property (given my then lower down payment, and worse mortgage interest rates).I am wondering if anyone has any experience with what happens in such cases?

Can I simply give them a 30 day notice to evacuate my house or does the pandemic affect this as well?

That’s because it’s widely misunderstood, and because of that we’ll start with learning about the common misconceptions so you have a clear understanding of how IRR works.Don’t be alarmed by the following definition, because this isn’t advanced calculus, but IRR simply put is the percentage rate earned on each dollar invested for each period of time that it’s invested.

When a good buying opportunity arises, we'll simply write a check out of our line and purchase in cash.

To put it simply, you may be over complicating things.

The first deed is unrecorded.Also, if you can prove (recording checks, intake sheet, copy of all submitted docs/instruments) that the deed is in queue with the recorder and you are simply waiting for it to be indexed and returned, and you have a title commitment in hand, this should be a non-issue. 

Is there a strong chance they'll simply reject my claim?

this is all great advice you have here...I would simply add, spend a bunch of time..a bunch, on your tenant screening.

I get that certain areas just aren't good for my particular business plan, but I got a flat "I don't go there", "It is too competitive" or simply not addressing the questions I asked.