Sufficient funds in case of large repairs ?

Are there any banks/lenders which would provide some incentives on closing cost and give good interest rates?

Asking is $200K, my relative (buyer) looking to put 20% down.He is pre-approved for the amount, lender has prepared both a conventional loan and a mass housing loan option for first time buyers.Would be purchasing as an owner occupied "primary residence", rates are decent under both options.Condo is currently rented, tenant lease expires the end of August - roughly 4 months.Lender says both loan programs require buyer to occupy the unit within 60 days, to qualify for first time buyer deals.Is there a way to get them to extend this to 120 days (4 months) until the tenant lease is up?

Taking out a loan for EMD would make it way, way too tempting to look past issues in DD and close no matter what.I'd also be concerned about the ability to close in general if cash is too tight to fund even the EMD.

@Jim Pellerin talked about how you can use SFH flips to build up funds to get into multifamily. 

With today's interest rate, this may be a viable option, compared to buying physical RE.

I’ve had this itch to get into real estate for a long time, but everytime I start to dip my toes in I get the feeling that with prices/rates where there at it’s hard to justify pulling money from risk free 5.5% ?

I would weigh those two options out and see what costs less overall between an entire new loan and or the blended rate of the two.

Nobody knows what is going to happen with rates...trying to guess or forecast is a fool's errand. 

So I’m wondering if anyone has experience with other property investment friendly insurance companies with good rates before I start shopping around.