You still have an Abundance of experienced REO agents with contacts already established, with about 10% of the reo’s that were at the peak..I think it’s a fruitless, banging your head against the wall, endeavor, but I could be wrong.

That doesn't trigger any tax implication other than establish your cost basis.  

Once you establish yourself in the world of Real Estate there will be many sources which will present deals to you to get under contract.

They have established themselves as a relationship based lender and they will provide their clients with very competitive rates in return for a depository relationship in efforts to win your long-term business.

The max you should offer depends on the criteria you've established for your expected rate of return & how much equity to you want to have in the property when you purchase it. 

Now that we have established CoC/IRR to be the appropriate method to evaluate ROI, it follows that it does not really matter whether you put down 20% or 80%.

FHA first time home buyer program 3.5% down and re-established credit.So, for a $200,000 home you need $7,000 cash that has been in your bank account for at least 90 days.

Line up an established funder who accepts referrals, and just submit (using their request-for-quote forms) the inquiries you get.

Every lender is different so you want to establish the relationship early and make sure you’re on the same page so there’s no surprises when it’s time to refi.

I would say only the ones that are between 1600-2000 sf...and only if they are in the immediate area.Until an actual ARV is established, the question can't possibly be answered.