I also have a client right now near BWI and we have to get additional approvals from the airport authority.

When you make offers on properties do you always have a pre-approval letter?

How hard is it to get appraisers in to appraise properties and are loans taking longer to approve?

Depending on the route you are looking to take and what your approval process for funding looks like will determine what you should charge as far as interest, fees and points go in my opinion.

So it's harder to get loans approved and some banks are asking for reduced LTV's, at least from what I've heard.

To be approved, you need the income that is reliable, stable and likely to continue for at least three years.

So I would suggest working on increasing your income, credit score, decreasing debt, increasing industry experience, etc. so that you improve your chances of getting approved by an underwriter as you work towards your goal of obtaining 20% down. 

Someone else can correct me if I am wrong but I think you would have to get approved for an amount they would loan you like a conventional mortgage then you could find a 4-plex in that value.

Also, did you have to get approval from the city to do this?

They're saying it wasn't approved, so REMOVE ALL FLOORING THROUGHOUT THE CONDO.