Just do your research and don't bid more than your original bottom line.

Yeah I cringe when I see a MERS originated mortgage, and tend to skip those when buying NPLs. 

My only backup plan if I can't get verified funds is to assume the worst and to drop my counter offer even lower than my original due to the risk I would be taking on, and then when I do my in person inspection try and guess what rents are fair market for the empty units, and ask as many tenants as I can what they pay in rents monthly.

The project will most likely end up costing us $10-15K more than we originally budgeted, this comes from being new to all this and not knowing near what we know now!

@Joseph Coleman yes when you originally posted this.

Any help  appreciated as most of the homes in my area have had bathrooms and kitchens added in places they originally weren’t. 

In a former life this was fairly common but I would have it paid to escrow and then credited off my origination fee, if that makes sense.

Originally posted by @Michael Ansley:Thank you for the advice.

Originally posted by @Fred Heller:Not giving legal advice, but moving out before the lease expires does not mean you forfeit the security deposit.

This is rare but may occur with notes originated with private parties.  2 - the lender gives his blessing to the assumption of the note.