id suggest you learn as much in the construction end as possible as the prices of foreclosures at least by me, Rockland Westchester Orange are through the roof and not much meat on the bone to justify a flip.

Is a 203K loan a good option for a beginner like me? At

Although it did not make sense for me at the time since a shorter time frame increases the monthly mortgage payment, the bank accepted the deal. 

sorry wording bad is this the house i helped you find  lol owner finance it to me at 7 percent lol

I will let  him respond to me at this point if he wants to take it. 

Welcome @Eric Schuster My answer to your question about avoiding areas where there's a high concentration of rental properties is: It depends.There are a lot of factors that can impact how many rentals are available at any given time and it can be hard (for me, at least) to know what "a lot of rentals" is without looking at trends (time series) over time. 

The reason i'm asking these questions is because after researching direct mailing campaigns, it looks like most people are offering to buy the house in cash as is and it seems like that would put me at a massive disadvantage since I would like to have an inspection before buying and I don't have the cash to buy it outright.

Ill be sure to reach out to Icon to get their rates and services, I've been in contact with AIM and they have quoted me at 9% flat with no additional charges but I haven't spoken to anyone who has used them before and a referral goes a long way. 

Guaranteed, tax-free and hassle-free 6% returns are enough for me at my stage.   

I do not know your market but these properties seem to not have much meat on the bone.The person saying 17 to 18% cap rate is a joke.