This is a very common issue in parts of Milwaukee and I have done lots of basement reinforcing on our rentals.

It's clear they are not willing to even talk about it and we would have to make a big issue of it - threaten to pull out of the lease or bring in lawyers, and that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense because it will just make our lives hell and cause our business to suffer.

There's a good chance the issue(s) you face has already been discussed and answered.Ask questions in the appropriate forum.

Your engineer should identify most issues.4.  

Can you call a board certified real estate attorney for free to ask questions or resolve simple issues?

Whereas with VRBO I've had several tech issues that were unfixable, such as photos that never load no matter how much I manipulate them, and a catch 22 with the dynamic pricing that never worked that locked me out of my calendar. 

Read this: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employe...Second, compensation is always issued to the person working.

However, I did take issue with the tone of the message, especially the part where they told me how they’d be paying rent.For context, there are no outstanding maintenance or repair issues, so I’m unsure what the tenant is referring to. 

Because if had I been informed of the issue prior to Dec. 12, I would have been able to back out of the transaction and walk away with my money.

Don't expect to learn complex issues with extremely significant consequences from online forums.