Folks, I am desperate, ok, almost desperate. 2 months ago I went under contract that is not contingent of financing.

Has waving inspections and appraisal contingencies always been a popular strategy in winning offers or is this becoming more popular in the current market?

If you want to do an offer contingent on you viewing it, yes.As for renos, it depends on what is needed. 

To get ahead, our agent asked if we would be comfortable waiving the appraisal contingency, but not an inspection contingency. 

A 3-4 week vacancy during rehab sounds optimistic to me especially if you are going to be asking market rents when the rehab is completed.Does the $200K reno budget have contingencies for cost overruns (just like new construction, rehab costs have risen rapidly where we are) and will the property be able to carry on extended vacancy?

If I was dead set on rentals, I would be looking for a 600-700k multifamily property (of course contingent on condition), and renovate units while holding a few years.  

I am cash buying with no contingencies since the market is so hot and competitive.

An investor would understand the 1031 process and you could make it contingent on finding your replacement property.

What is the sponsor doing to hedge these risks with contingency planning? 

I during my contingencies I found out the current tenant hasn't been paying throughout COVID as the tenants work is correlated to hollywood/filming.