I am working on that right now, and really hope it makes everything run more smoothly.

Im not letting the distance be an issue because im also in CT and RI as well.If anything, this would be my first deal and I want to cover everything I can to make to flow as smooth as possible.

We make sure the slab is clean, smooth, dry, then apply VCT type glue with a fine trowel. 

If that goes smoothly I could have 40k in cash available once the property is sold in a year (some equity from the property and some additional savings over a year).If you were in my position, would you rather wait until you have enough cash available to buy and rehab a property without any financing or would you find financing and start now?

Unfortunately, the seller got an appraisal on the property and it came out to $800,000, so the negotiations aren't going as smoothly as we would like since the seller's lawyer keeps bringing up the valuation based on the appraisal and not the NOI. 

Or is their focus on the logistics of buying and selling smoothly?

I may be a bit late to the party but Suntrust does both conventional and portfolio lending and I've had smooth easy transactions with them in the past.

Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

When I tried to vet them, It looks like they their business is not currently active so I backed out...Please keep me informed if you proceed and let me know if things went smoothly.

Even if you have to give some profit away, it will be well worth it to make sure things go smoothly and your investors stay happy!