You should know what the rehab cost will be BEFORE offer acceptance and you should know what the ARV is...plus what it will rent for.

Unless there was a lien recorded in the public records I doubt the insurer will accept liability for the matter. 

Our offer was immediate and accepted the next day when the sellers were overwhelmed with offers and viewing requests.

I went with a 5% down conventional loan, which will allow me to continue to purchase house hacks if I want to in the future (assuming DTI is acceptable).How did you add value to the deal?

Acknowledge failures as failures and accept them and encourage continued effort when what the kid is trying to do really is something he can work to achieve. 

Everyone seems to have different strategies and successes with direct mail, cold calling, driving for dollars, social media, etc.

I can guarantee that if the seller is motivated enough to accept ZERO down, there is likely a ton of deferred maintenance just waiting to be discovered after closing.It's unclear whether the property is currently occupied.

Now if it resulted in $600 more rent, you would be at 10% which looks much more acceptable. 

It’s a shotgun approach to insurance, in that they shop the entire market and find the companies that will accept your risk instead of you, yourself calling 10 insurance companies and wasting your time.

No HOA, ~450/mo insurance (expensive, high fire area), $400/mo other utilities. 3% maintenance reserve, 3% closing costs etc. 3.2% 30 year fixed 20% down mortgage...could likely shop for better terms with an accepted offer.I'm assuming 20-30% of home value depreciated in the first year via cost segregation study and purchase price of 1.55MM which is an "outlandish" bid well above asking I'm considering but am shocked at how the numbers are still working.