If so, you don't have a squatter, you likely have a tenant with tenants rights in the eyes of the law.

Also, since Akron and Canton are sort of downstream of Cleveland's market it's a good idea to keep an eye on it anyway, even if I don't have a presence there. 

Sale-Leasebacks have inherent challenges because the tenant/seller is incentivized to market the property in such a way they get they price they want, but if the entity who signs the lease is weak and there's no personal guarantor, they could stop paying rent the day after you close leaving you high and dry with very little legal remedy.I don't know your market, but in my eyes, any 10% cap offering is either an extremely weak tenant OR a tenant that has very little term remaining with no plans to renew.If I were, you I would very seriously consider how much I like the real estate and what my odds would be of refilling the real estate with the same or better rent and/or a better credit tenant once this tenant goes belly up.

Unless you have a good eye for design, I highly recommend getting a professional.

In my eyes this created a bloat. 

I'm doing some research now to identify potential areas to keep an eye on and possibly connect with an investor-oriented local agent in each of the areas we're considering.  

Specifically, eyeing entry-level markets with all in purchase + rehab between $80k to $170k.What markets do you think I could maximize the likelihood of recouping most, if not all, of my cash?

In my eyes, it's fair as even though I'm fronting the capital, the split in equity is worth it as it gives me more time to run my other business, plus we can do things faster with two of us, plus at this point of my REI journey, I don't have the skills/experience (yet) that he does with the construction side and for him, he values not having to manage the finances.  

We tried to get info on the lender to ask directly but they wouldn't give it to us.I would have thought this would be a relatively quick process to do a credit check, check debt to income, employer verification, etc.current loan's interest rate is very low so they definitely haven't refinanced anytime recently.Additionally, having never assumed a loan before, anything I should keep an eye out for that might cause a hiccup? 

Additionally, review your listing in the eyes of a renter to see if it is appealing.