From my conversations with him, he is very happy with the results of doing light rehab work and getting quality tenants. 

Are there any loans similar to FHA where it is low money down for purchasing a rental property?

Low rents give tenants an incentive to stay long term.  

I installed cheap laminate, less than $1 a foot but you could step up the quality and still be reasonable.

I am waiting to see what impact this is going to have on home values here with everyone selling so low..... or how much of an impact I should say.

I know the population has been decreasing for a while, but what's going in Wilkes-Barre that's leading to such high cap rates (i.e. sellers willing to sell their properties for really low amounts?)

Here are the average response rates we have seen based on our customer feedback as well as our own mailings throughout the years:Yellow Letters- average response rate of 8%-9%, all kinds of calls (angry calls, curious calls, tire-kickers, quality calls)Postcards- average response rate of .5%, mostly quality calls.Zip Letters- average response rate of 2%, mostly quality calls.

As mentioned since we are starting out again on flips we really liked this one since the purchase price was below our target point...I guess that why the other investor who bought was selling so low. 

So I would use a low money down program like the VA loan and buy a house hack, wait out the occupancy requirement and do it again with FHA, wait out that requirement and then see if a commercial bank will work with you.  

Doesn't it make more sense to take advantage of the low rates that are available now?