I think the tone is somewhat negative, but I agree with the overall approach.

I see out of state people make a few mistakes in their approach like not using attorneys to represent them in the purchase or downplaying issues that come up on inspections up front.  

if you bought with cash you can cashout refi or heloc typically 75% of the equity out of your rentalalso use extreme caution with someone approaching you with a "rent to buy" offer... could be a scam

Our approach: Risk management first, returns second...

I was hoping the bigger pockets family could give me a few suggestions, instances, warnings, or any general guidance as to how I should approach this or to where I might be able to educate myself some more on this aspect of investing. 

There is a lot of variation in neighborhood quality within Longmont, with some parts being fully gentrified (SE side which is rapidly approaching Boulder prices), others that are still "transitional" and also some pretty rough hoods that may never be nice (W/NW side).

We are at or approaching a peak/plateau in this cycle.

Most hard money lenders do want to take a look at your credit but most will take a more common sense approach, focusing more on the credit report than on the credit score. 

After running the numbers, we realized we would need to be asking about half of the listing price for it to be worth it.We know the strategy of “analyze 100, offer on 10, and buy 1” but we were just curious to hear what others had to say on how you would approach making such a lowball offer to a seller.

Is this the correct approach?