Learning how active buyers really evaluate deals. Looking for different perspectives

Quote from @Giovanni Choisne:

I’m still early in my real estate journey and spending a lot of time learning how deals actually get evaluated by people who are actively buying. One thing I’m trying to understand better is what makes a deal worth a closer look versus an easy pass. On paper, numbers can look fine, but I know there's more to it than just ARV and rehab estimates.

For those of you who are currently buying:

What are the first few things you look at before spending real time on a deal?

Are there any red flags that immediately make you move on?

Not looking to sell anything, just trying to improve how I think about deals and learn from people who’ve been doing this longer than I have.

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I look at things differently than the average investor.

I think most investors either try to justify getting at least "some" cashflow in a rough neighborhood, or they justify a property in a place where there is no cashflow by telling themselves that the appreciation will make up for it "in the long run".

I'm a kind of "I want it now" type, because we don't really know what tomorrow brings and buying in "rough" neighborhoods just isn't my thing. I have the battle scars to show it. So, I settled on finding deals I could buy "off market" in nice neighborhoods, that cashflow, because I understand the financing side of real estate.

You don't make money using a bank's money to buy real estate, you use the seller's money. It's a little tough for the average person to grasp that and typically requires teaching.