Very nice of you to go into such depth with your time and answers to a total stranger. 

The bank appraised this at 500K, seller was asking for the same price, which makes me believe that the appraiser was possibly influenced by the sellers price since there was no real comps to go by in the last handful of years.

Also, the advice to go with apartments compared to single family homes.

Start building those relationships with lenders and when you find a good deal you will know who to go to when you need to get your POF letter. 

that may or may not be the direction you want to go but after 16 years selling in the DC Metro area, it proved to be very worthwhile for me! 

Yes, I'm here locally but desiring to get the best service possible, given my current experience with buy/flips.  

Way to go guys!

If I close in October, payments don't start until December, so even if I have to go vacant until March, it's the the price I pay to lock in a performing asset for the next decade+. 

I've got a list ready to go, plus I'm driving for dollars.

Getting a new primary occ loan on the new home would be the way to go in my opinion.