Condo's are appreciating quickly here, low inventory on the market, high demand for the investments upcoming on the resort mountain.

I've been extremely interested in becoming a real estate investor for a long time. 

Houses will be low 400's to high 400's (1,900-2,300 sf) depending on the model.

Low 600s or high 500s may be impossible to approve. 

Another option would be to have an engineering firm do the inspection but costs for that can be pretty steep and generally are not necessary unless you are looking at an extremely large or otherwise complicated structure.

I may not be thinking of buying the property, but if the bids are too low, should I just not make an offer?

Also in the price range you are considering you are running a high risk of having a low quality experience.

Hi @Sarah KhanCapital View area is up & coming and continues to experience growth with low median days to contract.  

These can be "conforming loans" like FHA/VA for low down payment.If you don't live in it then it's similar but it's considered a commercial loan and you will likely have to come up with more down payment. 20%-25%

Also a note not serviced by a licensed servicer would be extremely difficult to sell if you ever wanted to sell it.