Personal circumstances have come about where the first property I buy I will just need to start renting it outright rather than moving in (as I would have preferred).  

I had requested 3 bids prior to Irma, but the other two have not responded and I can't blame them under the circumstances. 

I think it's admirable, and the least they can do under the circumstance.

@Manolo D. we were definitely happy with the overall outcome. the GC we used did a great job. we plan on using his crew again on our next property if possible. however, I'm guessing you're referring to my other discussion about rehab costs from my contractor. we were happy with the outcome of this project but I don't have anything to compare this to. the fact of the matter is we don't know if his prices were fair for the market. we were in very unique circumstances on the last project where we had flexibility with our budget, so even if he charged more than the competition we still came out on top. moving forward we need to know more details. we are currently making offers on properties in need of rehab and we're using this GC's quote to help us budget for our max offer. if we can use him and still make a competitive offer then we will but we are getting beat by other offers. we just need to analyze all factors to see what we can change in order to compete. the two main concerns are that we are up against other investors making cash offers so they have no loan contingency and no mortgage payments inflating their holding costs, plus they probably have cheaper labor and material costs. so, we're just trying to analyze everything. our GC did a great job, only went slightly over budget compared to his original estimate, but we did plan for contingency and I ended up doing a lot of the work, so we were overall under budget, and he offered the quality of work we were happy with.

They have a duty to their shareholders and in many circumstances a duty to the previous owner to maximize recovery and mitigate loss.

My experience is that a big part of this industry runs on personality and being able to connect with people, and if you cannot do that you will be at a distinct disadvantage over others who can. 

FORECLOSURE: A seven year waiting period is required, and is measured from the completion date of the foreclosure.A three year waiting period is permitted if extenuating circumstances [EC: non recurring events that are beyond control that result in a sudden, significant and prolonged reduction in income or a catastrophic increase in financial obligations]  can be documented and the lesser LTV of 90% or the standard product guidelines.

It could be a great fit under the right circumstances.  

You can look up who the owner is on the county tax appraisal site...or maybe Renters Warehouse will give you the owners phone number due to this extenuating circumstance.

Do I need to establish certain facts or circumstances to make sure the facts are clear in the event of an audit later?