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.

You then counter with numbers that will work for you.Going in you know exactly what your minimum requirements are and target that or better in terms.There is no standards there is only what you need or better to make it work.Your ideal target would be the best bank rate but with seller financing that would be extremely rare. 

We were thinking of moving to Vegas since Nevada does not have income tax or Arizona which has very low income tax.

I believe that you can put a fourplex that you will live in into an FHA loan, which will keep your interest rate quite low and your downpayment low too.

I've been listening to the podcasts and started reading "Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down" and looking forward to making my first move.