I think smaller banks may have a different stance,  which makes sense i suppose.   

That makes total sense. 

It’s multi family but that makes sense, do you know if rates are typically a little higher on multi too?

State taxes should have a minimal effect on evaluation if you live in CA (excluding property tax) because my understanding of how the income would be taxed is (state income was generated in taxes first if it is a higher rate than CA no further tax, if it is lower rate CA takes what you paid the other state into account and taxes the rest of the way up to their normal rate)  Hopefully that made a bit of sense it is difficult to explain in text format.

And if the GC gets a sense that you're working with multiple GCs, they will not bother to show up.

That was very insightful and makes a lot of sense.

I have been making offers on MLS listed properties with no success recently as everything seems well over-priced to make sense. 

And investing in one of his funds as the beginner also makes sense, you should explore this opportunity as well.

What I’d ideally like to do (because it makes the most sense) is: close on the property.

That makes sense now.