With that being said, I want to give him an offer that wouldn't be too low because time isn't necessarily of an essence to him, but if i can give him a price that can compete with the leverage of having a cash offer.

Someone who is 60 and is married for 40 years, but still doesn't have a car and has to rent a low-rent unit, AND share a unit with other people (and they were the ones who got evicted, so the story goes) probably doesn't have a very good set of skills when it comes to managing money (or life, for that matter).

When i call back later, when im available, i always apologize and say i was doing a walk through or looking at another property lol @Nzinga Augustoi personally wouldnt do #1 or #2 for a couple reasons, Lets say you get a call at 830 Am and the VA sends you the info......you cant call until after 5 anyway.......same thing your voicemail would do...........also, i would keep your costs low until youre getting consistent deals.......just my opinion. 

Which is better if you want to use the low down payment method potentially repeatedly?

But, that sounds a high-risk low-reward behaviour.

I’m not an expert of the area by any means however I looked at several properties in the area and the two big takeaways for me we’re 1. the rents-to-purchase ratio are fairly low and 2. you’ll likely be dealing with large, older families.

Lenders are saying our income is too low.

Lenders are saying our income is too low.

You can get a loan for slightly cheaper depending on your credit score and LTV that you are looking for Ive seen as low as the high 5's to mid 6's on the interest rate 

You can try to justify a low offer all you want, but chances are somebody else will come by and pay what they are asking.