I buy solid, high quality / low maintenance properties, in great, blue collar neighborhoods. 

One of his Sci Fi books had a back story of a Plague out of China - Centurion.Leslie Eastman of Legal Insurrection is covering the Coronavirus, and has solid information, but she is very careful on what she writes.

My capital is limit FYI so that’s one reason why the 3.5% is looking like a solid choice for me (now).

You typically want to look for a Builder’s Risk endorsement and a solid General Liabilty coverage amount.

Investing in RE w/ No Money Down: Brandon Turner (solid foundations for creative financing)E-Myth: Michael E.

I will have a sizable portfolio of SFH eventually and we a solid foundation to work from. 

I will tell you though that one of the banks biggest fears is going under deposit and it not closing, so if they think one offer may have a high likelihood of falling apart, they might be able to justify that it's better to take the definite cash deal now (if the numbers are close).If you want this edge, be sure to make an all around SOLID Offer:- 10% Deposit- Proof of Funds- No Mortgage Contingency- No Inspections- Close before the end of the month.If the offers are very close, with these terms you might have a chance .. but if your $5-10k+ less than the 203k Rehab Loan, they will probably take the rehab loan.Also keep in mind that in most cases the banks do not care if you have inspections, or a mortgage contingency. 

Based on the down payment it sounds like it will be owner occupied, unless it's not a conventional loan.If owner occupied with excellent credit, solid income with low DTI, that rate is very high!!!  

Unless you're lucky enough to work for Keller-Williams or some of the other major brokerages with solid training processes, nobody is going to provide much help.There are some good training programs for new agents like YesMasters or the book "Your First 365 Days In Real Estate" or something similar.

Pick a solid B-Class suburban area.