You will have to do something unique to make it effective & useful to you... because it's always no pain, no gain!

The first rehab he led turned out nice, but at times was rough because we have a different relationship than most employee/employer.  

Trying to figure out the proper, best, and alternative routes to making meaningful relationships and wondering what the most effective means is to developing leads that may come along in the probate process. 

Establishing a relationship with a few of them locally or nationally [if you have a network] would be extremely beneficial.

My dad's mixed use property was grandfathered as it was built in 1890, before zoning laws went into effect here in the 1920's.

Also, if you have a long-term relationship with a local attorney, they may offer a discount for repeat business.

You are describing it like you would a personal relationship.

Giving no reason is effectively the same as having no opinion.  

Regarding property management, utilizing local property managers can save you time, and using PropStream effectively for filtering properties by distress level and location will certainly help with finding stronger deals.

It binds the landlord, but honestly has little binding effect on a tenant when they simply choose to leave.