Those folks simply can't be relied upon to relay inquiries, showing requests, etc or to put your best foot forward.  

It's really only relied upon in new construction and even then I would place more value on a discounted cash flow with assumptions for time to stabilize to market occupancy.

So with retail sales ( unlike if your building something were your relying on rent) we did just fine market absorbed it..

I think we are at the point, where labor costs are actually going down as most of the labor relies on big national builder's for their work, and with home sales slowing down, we are seeing labor rates competing for work, which is driving down the costs.

Don't rely on your PM or a contractor. 

Don't rely on a single tenant verification service.

Your numbers are simply not worth the paper they're printed on if you really need to rely on a home inspector to tell you about the property's build quality and condition.

If you really want an answer you can confidently rely on you'll need to engage an attorney practicing in the state the property is located in and the state of residence of your grandparents and have him research the specific facts of the case.  

This is something i've been trying to define myself as I don't want to rely on the first come first serve method. 

That probably means sellers will more often rely on the X% that folks vaguely believe to be the industry standards.