First Time home buyer program and received a grant for the down payment.

It is a possibility that my Mother would at this stage gift me the down payment to take on a second primary residence loan but we are still discussing. 

If you are the buyer, payment is YOUR responsibility regardless of whether the seller provides the funds to pay your agent or not.With all that said, the real estate agent is providing a service for you that MAY net you more cash in the long run.

So essentially, if you use that loan product, you wont have to worry about "using up" your low down payment loan quota.

Their methods of determining whether it's a good value differ (i.e., ARV - I understand this method).

While there are low and no money down real estate investing methods you can explore, the reality is, you need to capital to invest in real estate.

While most people thought banks prioritized foreclosing on houses that had not made their mortgage payments in months, banks actually prioritized homes that had a lot of equity.

For example, if you want credit scores above 600 but you accept a 580 once, you can never in the future decline someone with a credit score between 580 and 600.The gray areas…I like a credit score above 600, I like my tenants not to have bankruptcyI like my tenants not to have a lot of debt (such that payments impact the Gross = 3X number)I like my tenants to have a history of paying on time Here is a scenario:  Tenant “X” gets past all the instant declines.

Payments are Interest Only, and amounts range from 225,000.00 to 400,000.00. 

A down payment of at least 10% is advisable unless you have strong cash flow from stable income sources.