Since the state only issued a grand total of 19 grants since the program started, they probably realized it wasn't realistic.

Aim for a realistic profit.

Hopefully, your agent can provide insight on comps in your area and days on market, to get a clear picture of realistically how quickly your local market is moving with interest rates recently rising. 

realistically 2-3K isn't a huge turnover bill.

Are you realistically able to manage it properly? 

I also believe we won’t have to deal with PMI if we go with one particular lender which helps as well.Does this seem all realistic?

Is that realistic ( dont want to offend them by askign 255k - assuming my lack of experience - I just have a few properties under my belt but this trend didnt make sense)YearProperty TaxesTax Assessment2021--$241,500 (+1.9%)2020$5,313 (+15.9%)$237,100 (+7.3%)2019$4,584$221,000 (+5.2%)

I think maybe if you had a more realistic scenario it would be easier to find a lender for 2nd position, even if it's your primary residence, but seeing that your current 1st position loan is already at 56% LTV you may not find anyone willing to offer more leverage. 

Once we understood that we knew what was realistic and started buying.

I am seeing this a lot as a listing agent and I often need to beat up my clients on price to get them to be realistic now that rates are 5-6%.