Ultimately it turned out the loan was owned by Fannie Mae and they are not allowed to assign those DOT's, but I got a reasonable person and a reasonable answer fairly quickly.

Easy solution -  Here is the link to Fannie Mae's guidelines:https://www.fanniemae.com/content/guide/sel033115.pdfYou'll want to seach the Part B section.

Most others, not in an auction, allow an inspection period in which you can get your EM back.It's through homepath / Fannie mae

When I bought my property from Fannie Mae they required 10% of the purchase price as EMD, so I had to put down about $4000 EMD.

Here's what Fannie Mae has to say about cash out refi's on property listed in the last six months.

So since the lender wants to sell off loans rather than keep them in portfolio, they need the loans to conform to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac standards.

@Rob Soete I am about to close on my first property, a non-owner occupied 4 plex in Phoenix, and like you, I am already trying to figure out how to purchase my next property.The least expensive ways I have seen are owner financing with smaller down payments, then there is the Fannie Mae Homepath properties, which require only 10% down, even on 2-4 unit properties and don't require PMI.

I'd approach a Mortgage Broker to run your Credit, put you into DU (Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter) and see what you're qualified to borrow on conventionally.2.

I was Highest and best offer on a Fannie Mae property.

For the REO's, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac will only accept offers 97-98% of list price so low-balling them is a waste of time.