Budgets are done annually and you make adjustments then and then increase fees based on that new budget.  

I believe as you grow your knowledge, your network, and your confidence through executing more deals your risk tolerance may adjust. 

It is not a guessing game, it is more of making educated assumptions and adjusting your strategy to suit the prevailing market conditions.There is more to this property investing business than meets the eye at first and obtaining a good understanding of investment fundamentals first, before investing in anything, is of vital importance.

Obviously i trying to get a rough idea of what they might settle for so as i might adjust an offer. 

Buy the LLC and do a 754 basis adjustment so you can depreciate the difference between the depreciable basis of the assets inside the LLC and what you paid for them.  

I currently work as an independent contractor, and write off just about everything as business expenses, which leaves my adjusted gross income at next to nothing, making it hard to qualify for traditional financing.

So some adjustments would have to be made.

I use my own spreadsheet so I can adjust according to Misc changes.  

better, but about $100/month or so.FHA doesn't (or at least shouldn't, individual lenders can add on whatever BS they want) have a loan level pricing adjustment for unit count.

Advice on how to tweak / adjust would be very helpful.