And yeah, one or two experienced guys and, gasp, lawyers representing the banks, helped me out because they saw I wasn't playing around or wasting their time.You're here and you're asking questions.

I know that sounds high, but these houses new sell for upwards of 360k, so we are hoping it's worth the investment.We have studied the info on auction.com and know that our 5% earnest money will need to be wired to the bank soon afterwards if we get accepted.

Should I use a 30 year traditional loan at rate of 4.875% and 4000 closing cost OR home equity loan with rate of 4.75% and 550 closing cost?

IE most folks renting <$900 do not have bank accounts.   

Whether you can pick your own title company depends on the specific auction/bank/property/state you're in - make sure that you read the fine print and have the option to select your own instead of being stuck with the bank's choice.Title insurance covers you if the title company says "no problems with the title" and then it turns out something was missed down the line (e.g. an outstanding lien or something).

I've been reading about FHA for a while now and found that some bank or programs may even gove you the down payment but I hardly hear people talking about it.

If you could provide more insight that would be great as I’m trying to figure how to finance my next investment and I have talked to several banks with no luck besides the 20% down payment.

If my closing costs would be reduced if the seller agrees to carry a note in lieu of a traditional mortgage, can I offer a bit extra on the purchase price?

If you can put the deal together and find your buyer the financing through a private money lender or a traditional bank that's easy to work with, that's going to make it much easier for you to sell that property and add value than it would be to do cash-and-carry.

Or will it have to be with a bank (commercial side)?