You are probably a "customer" which means they don't represent your best interests and have no requirement to protect you, negotiate on your behalf, etc.

It’s  not in a visually bad condition - foundations etc are good based on the report - just hasn’t been maintained too well - it’s a large custom home built in 2003 and single story and the agent kept persuading us it’s worth that much.

The only explanation from their customer service folks was that it "couldn't be used for that type of transaction."

Longhorn has been doing 100% financing for 16 years with 8000+ closed loans and has a stellar reputation and many, many repeat customers.

Referrals may be a big part of your business so I'd recommend creating a business page here and having some of your customers write you a review.Lastly, one of the best ways for people to find you is through your profile.

In person its a place I could see maybe doing an investment or two in but its not where I really want to set up shop (I mean that literally; set up a home and also set up a wood shop - so I can build custom cabinets and stuff).If Santa Cruz, CA ever goes on sale then I'll go there and suck it up with CA laws and cost of living, but for the foreseeable future it is not even a remotely viable option; I looked at a fourplex there generating $10k in monthly income and priced at $2,700,000. 

But maybe their connections get too many JOBs, they don't cares about their clients.4.FlipSystem is basically MLM company, they use Fake exaggerated advertisement to lure new customers in, asking new customer to sign disclosure with them so they don't have any liabilities to their advertisement, then what they providing is their connections from Agent to Contractor and they charge you more on these things!

Also, in general, would an appraiser likely aim to provide favorable results to keep you as a repeat customer?

i just didnt want my customers thinking we were trying to slip something past them.

Most notable cost basis, debt service, cap ex schedule, accounting, checking account oversight for ease of transactions, property tax tracking and trends, custom KPIs and modeling.